


Candied Yams and Sticky Conversations

by Viridescence



Series: Orbit!Verse [2]
Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Artist!Jared, M/M, Writer!Jensen, published: 2011
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-17
Updated: 2011-10-17
Packaged: 2017-10-24 17:08:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/265869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridescence/pseuds/Viridescence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How to introduce your imaginary friend-turned muse-turned real boyfriend to your parents in three easy steps: 1: Introduce boyfriend. 2: Convince family he's real. 3: Convince family that the two of you share dreams? That should be a piece of cake. Or pie, pumpkin pie... Oh crap. This is going to be an interesting Thanksgiving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candied Yams and Sticky Conversations

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Candied Yams and Sticky Conversations](https://archiveofourown.org/works/572630) by [Viridescence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridescence/pseuds/Viridescence)



> This is Part 2 of Orbit!Verse ([on LJ](http://viridescence.livejournal.com/166073.html) / [on AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/series/8875))
> 
> **Warnings:** Spoilers for Part 1 of Orbit!Verse. Other than that, none, really, unless you count mild homophobic language and swearing, explicit male/male sex (including rimming), grown men acting like twelve-year-olds, and a penchant for schmoop
> 
> **Disclaimer:** This is a work of FICTION. I do not own Jared, Jensen, or anyone else who has a real life outside of this story, and it’s a pretty fair bet to say that this story never happened and in no way reflects on the actual orientation or relationships of the people described herein. I’m just borrowing their names and likenesses to play in my own fictional universe. No harm is intended and no profit is being made. This is purely for my own entertainment.
> 
> **Challenge:** This story was written for the 2011 [rpf_big_bang](http://rpf-big-bang.livejournal.com) challenge.
> 
> **Author’s Notes Part Un:** Like the title implies, this fic involves a number of "sticky" conversations as Jensen gets to know Jared's family over Thanksgiving and the subsequent weekend. It is a timestamp for the story I wrote for the 2010 spn_j2_bigbang, [**Ours is a Reciprocal Gravitation Orbit**](http://viridescence.livejournal.com/166073.html) (on AO3 [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/135294)), and it will NOT make sense if you haven’t read that story first. Not only that, but if you read this one without having read _Orbit_ , this will spoil the ending of _Orbit_. So I strongly recommend that you read _Orbit_ first. This story takes place about a month after the Epilogue of _Orbit_ , and it takes place about two-ish years _BEFORE_ the timestamp I posted earlier this summer, [**A Fork in the Road**](http://viridescence.livejournal.com/190275.html) (on AO3 [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/213078)). You do not need to have read _Fork_ to understand this story. I still have a full sequel in progress for this universe, which I’m now shooting to finish for next year’s spn_j2_bigbang. *fingers crossed*
> 
> **Author’s Notes Part Deux:** I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to my beta and coach, pimmie, for the chats nearly every weekend for a year as I worked on this universe, for the constant encouragement, tough love, support, music videos and porny links. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥!!!!! Huge thanks also to my other beta, rurounihime, for your very helpful comments! ♥ ♥ ♥!!!
> 
>   
> 
> 
> You can also read this story [on my Livejournal here](http://viridescence.livejournal.com/196289.html). [deadflowers5](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com) did the artwork for this story; it's posted [here!](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/107094.html#cutid1) Please go look at the gorgeous artwork and leave her great reviews!!
> 
>  **Author's Notes Part Trois:** For a primer on bowling, see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling), and for a primer on pool/billiards, see [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-ball). For those of you who are not in the US or who are not familiar with the US holiday of Thanksgiving, people gather with their families and/or friends to have _enormous_ meals on the last Thursday in November. The Friday following Thanksgiving is known as [Black Friday](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_\(shopping\)). It is the semi-official start to the Christmas holiday shopping season. Stores and retailers offer steep discounts and open crazy early (like 4:00 or 5:00 am), and people get up insanely early to camp outside the store doors and then stampede inside to get the good sale prices. Black Friday shopping is known to be a crowded, aggressive, free-for-all, with people stealing things out of other people's shopping carts, breaking out into fights over the last television or X-Box, or being trampled (some have even died from being trampled). Some people see braving the hordes as an adventure, some people tolerate the crowds to get the good deals, and other people (myself included) avoid shopping that day entirely on principle, either just to avoid the crowds or in protest of the blatant and rampant consumerism.

  


  
**Candied Yams and Sticky Conversations**  
  


  
_November 28, 2002_  


As they turned onto Jared’s street, a prickling sensation skittered down Jensen’s spine. He recognized this block. Sure, some of the houses had been repainted and the trees and bushes were larger, but he _knew_ this neighborhood. It boggled his mind, given that he’d never been here before. Not physically, at least.

“That’s it?” Jensen asked, pointing towards the light grey house with the navy trim. “Third on the left?”

Jared’s dimples were on full display. “Yup.”

“Wow.” Jensen didn’t mean the house—it was a reasonably sized middle-class house, two stories, built in the late 1980s, obviously kept up to date and in good condition, but small by current housing standards.

Jared looked over at him from the driver’s seat, one hand gripping the steering wheel of their rental car. The sunlight splayed across his face, making his hazel eyes look green. “I know.” He put a hand on Jensen’s knee. “It still surprises me all the time, too. We’ve only been together for half a year, but it’s really been almost a decade.”

Jared could read him so well. “Yeah. I know this house,” Jensen said as Jared did a U-turn to park on the street—the driveway was occupied by two vehicles already. “I remember standing on that porch and giving you your birthday present.”

Jared put the car in park and turned off the engine, a fond look on his face. “Boots.”

“I still can’t believe it sometimes,” Jensen mused. “I mean I _do_ believe it, but… occasionally it just _hits_ me and I’m back to being stunned all over again.”

“Dude, we’re soooooouuuuull mates,” Jared drawled, falsetto and eyelashes fluttering. “This sort of thing defies reason. Stop over-thinking it so much. You’ll get your scrunchy thinky face on and my family will think you’re constipated.”

Jensen choked out a laugh. “Better me constipated than you gassy,” he retorted, covering the flutter of nerves in his stomach. Oh, God. Jared’s family. He was going to meet Jared’s family for the first time, for Thanksgiving. And they were going to have to explain why Jared had [stacks](http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt174/deadflowers5/supernatural/14.jpg) of [drawings](http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt174/deadflowers5/supernatural/1copy.jpg) and [paintings](http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt174/deadflowers5/supernatural/003.jpg) of Jensen that he’d done as a teenager, long before they’d met in real life.

“Hey, my ass smells like potpourri, I’ll have you know.” Jared mock-pouted.

“You’re so full of shit. You get _toxic_ after a burrito!” Jensen snarked back, then said slowly, with false sympathy, “The first step is admitting you have a problem.”

“I’ll show you toxic.” Jared screwed up his face at Jensen, lifting one thigh and making like he was going to let one rip. Jensen derailed the impending noxious gas bomb by poking Jared in the ribs, right in the spot that made his boyfriend jump.

Jared guffawed and stuck his tongue out at Jensen. “Spoil sport.”

“You’re right. I’m absolutely no fun at all, not _ever_ ,” Jensen deadpanned.

Jared pretended like he was thinking that one over. “Well, I suppose you’re fun _some_ of the time, at least. I guess I’ll keep you.”

Jensen quirked an eyebrow at him. “Only if I’m not a burden.”

Jared’s eyes sparkled. “Never,” he whispered, then leaned over to kiss Jensen, a firm, reassuring press of lips.

After a long moment, Jensen’s mind wandered back to the reason they were here. Jensen just hoped Jared’s family wouldn’t think they were crazy. He wanted them to accept him and Jared, and he really hoped he’d make a good impression, that they’d like him. The visit would probably go alright, his rational brain knew it, but Jensen couldn’t help but be a little nervous, more for Jared’s sake than his own—his boyfriend was more anxious about this visit than he was letting on.

Jared broke the kiss and held Jensen’s face in his hands, looking him straight in the eyes. He traced his thumb from Jensen’s ear down his jaw line. “They’re going to absolutely love you, Jen. Yeah, we’ll have to explain, but it will be okay.” He sounded overly determined, like he was trying to make his words true by the force of his will alone.

Jensen quirked an eyebrow. “You trying to convince me or yourself?”

Jared gave a sheepish grin. “A little of both?”

Jensen pinched his ear gently. “You’re right, you know. No matter how they take the news, we’ll get through it and we’ll be fine. So stop worrying so much.”

Jared took a deep breath and let it out in a gush. Nodded. “Okay. It will be fine. We’re gonna be fine.”

Jensen pecked him one last time on the lips. “Alright, Jay. Let’s go shock the hell out of them.”

Jared flashed his dimples again, but Jensen could tell that it was partly false bravado.

They got out of the car, and Jared pulled their luggage from the trunk. He went first up the steps, Jensen behind him, Jared’s broad shoulders blocking him from view of the door. The front door opened then, screen squeaking, as a female voice exclaimed, “Jared! I’m so glad you’re home!”

Jared was engulfed in a hug with a shorter woman—his mother, Jensen assumed when he saw the streaks of gray in the brown hair he could see over Jared’s shoulder.

“Hey, Mama.” Jared squeezed her tightly. “It’s good to be home.”

Sherri held onto Jared for another long minute and then stepped back, moving Jared aside. “Well, let’s meet this man of yours!”

Jensen could see Sherri now, and he _remembered_ her. There were more lines around her eyes, but she was the same kind-faced woman that Jensen had seen back when he was eleven and Sherri and Jared disappeared right in front of him. He’d seen pictures of her, of course, but it wasn’t the same as actually having a memory of her.

Sherri’s face transformed from open welcome to astonishment when she saw Jensen, her mouth falling open.

“Mom, I’d like you to meet Jensen Ackles,” Jared said, one hand on Jensen’s back. “Jensen, this is my mom, Sherri.”

“Good to meet you, ma’am.” Jensen extended his hand to her.

Sherri stood there gaping at him for a fraction of a moment, before reaching for Jensen’s hand. “Very nice to meet you, Jensen.” She gave him a tremulous smile. Her hand was soft and small in his, and Jensen felt simultaneously a little amused and a little discomfited when she shot an incredulous look at Jared.

“Sherri, aren’t you going to let them come in?” came a man’s voice from inside the house. The door opened up wider to reveal Gerry, Jared’s father, a man nearly as tall as Jared.

Gerry also stopped when he saw Jensen, but he covered his surprise better. He froze for just a second, one hand on the door knob, and then he reached his other hand out for his wife, grasping her elbow gently.

Jared was just grinning smugly at his parents, enjoying their reactions. At least he was getting some entertainment value from the situation, Jensen thought wryly.

“Sherri,” Gerry said softly. “Let them come inside. I’m sure everyone wants to hear all about them.” He looked from Jared to Jensen, then back to Jared, and even Jensen knew that the expression on his face meant he expected a detailed account of Jensen’s presence. Jensen swallowed and forced down his nerves.

Sherri blinked, then blushed, flustered. “Yes, oh, forgive my manners!” She squeezed Jensen’s hand gently and pulled him into the house. “We’re so glad you’re here, Jensen. We’ve all been dying to meet you. I can’t wait to hear…” She trailed off, seemingly unable to find words to end that sentence.

They wheeled their luggage through the door and stepped into an entrance way that opened up immediately into a living room on the right and a kitchen on the left. While Jared hugged his father, Jensen surveyed the front of the house and was once again impressed with a strong sense of deja-vu. There was a large still-life painting hanging over the plush sofa, clearly Jared’s work. Different furniture, newer carpet, but the house was the same as he remembered. In the kitchen, Jensen could see a table covered haphazardly with the ingredients for a salad and miscellaneous bowls and utensils. It was clear that the preparations for their Thanksgiving dinner were well underway, roasting turkey and pumpkin pie fragrant in the air. It smelled heavenly, like home, and Jensen’s heart twanged, bittersweet.

“Dad, this is Jensen Ackles,” Jared said. “Jensen, this is my dad, Gerald, but everyone calls him Gerry.”

Jensen shook Gerry’s hand. The older man’s grip was firm but not domineering, and Jensen returned it with confidence. “I’m very pleased to meet you. Thank you so much for having me.”

Gerry gave him a reserved smile. “We’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Jensen. We’re glad you’re here.”

“JAAAAARRRREEEED!” came a squeal from the kitchen. A tall young woman with long chestnut hair skidded into view. This had to be Jared’s sister, Megan. She appeared to be mid-way into launching herself at Jared, but she lurched to a halt when she saw Jensen, stumbling to keep herself from falling. “Oh my God.” She pointed at Jensen. “Is that…?”

“Yup, it is.” Jared was practically _giggling_. Jensen understood Jared’s delight. Megan’s face was scrunched up in confusion, a wrinkle between her eyebrows and her mouth hanging open. It was cute.

Jensen decided to put her out of her misery. “Hi, you must be Megan,” he said, extending his hand to her. She took it, still gawping at him, and she looked so much like Jared at that moment that Jensen had to stifle a chortle of his own. “I’m Jensen.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Jared didn’t sound sorry at all. “Meggie, this is Jensen Ackles, my _boyfriend_ ,” he said, entirely in annoying big brother mode. Jensen could hear the unspoken “aren’t you jealous?” and “neener-neener-neener, I have a hot boyfriend and yoooouuuu don’t!” in his voice.

Apparently Sherri heard it, too, because she reached up and swatted Jared on the back of the head. “Jared! What are you, twelve?”

Jared just sniggered gleefully. He was having entirely too much fun, in Jensen’s opinion.

“Why don’t you put your bags in Jared’s room?” Gerry said, looking at Jensen and Jared. “I imagine you’d like to take a few minutes to relax after your trip. Would you like some coffee or something else to drink?”

“Coffee would be wonderful, thank you, Gerry.” Relief washed over Jensen at the mere thought. It had been an early flight, a crowded Thanksgiving Day madhouse at the airport with harried passengers and lines for _miles_. Jensen typically had a hard time sleeping on planes, so he hadn’t been able to nap at all. Jared, on the other hand, had passed right out on Jensen’s shoulder, despite being folded into his seat like a Swiss Army knife. How a man that large could be comfortable in a space that tiny baffled Jensen. He might not be as tall as Jared, but he wasn’t short by any means, and he never felt like he could actually fit, let alone get comfortable in, a coach plane seat.

“Yes, I’ve got Jared’s old room all made up for you,” Sherri said. Jensen could still see the fluster in her manner. “It’s down the hall—”

“First door on the right.” The words fell out of Jensen’s mouth before he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to know where Jared’s room was.

Sherri just looked at him, perplexed, then nodded.

Jared headed for the hallway, tugging his suitcase behind him. He stopped to give Megan a bear hug, picking her up off her feet and swinging her from side to side. “Hiya, brat!” He planted a sloppy kiss on her forehead.

Megan squealed, but squeezed him back wholeheartedly.

“I’ll explain in a few,” Jensen heard Jared say softly in Megan’s ear. “It’s a good story, I promise.”

“It better be, jerk!” Megan retorted. “Now put me down!”

Jared did as she asked, then took Jensen’s hand to pull him down the hall. Jared’s room seemed a lot smaller than Jensen remembered. He felt another wave of astonishment, wondering for the millionth time how it was possible that he actually _remembered_ Jared’s room. Jensen pushed the bewilderment away. It didn’t matter how it happened. Fact was that it had, that he and Jared had shared dreams since they were kids. Made no sense, but Jensen was finally accustomed to the idea after being with Jared in real life for six months now.

Jensen set his bag down next to the closet and turned to survey Jared’s room. The extra long queen bed had a different bedspread than he remembered, and instead of being covered in Jared’s old posters and miscellaneous sketches, the walls were adorned with several of Jared’s better paintings, including a portrait of Jensen. It portrayed him laughing, holding a guitar, fingers on the fret and strings. Jensen stared at it, amazed at Jared’s talent—it had a slight impressionist feel to it, but Jensen’s form was very realistic, and very accurate.

Jared stepped up behind him, wrapping his arms around Jensen’s waist. “I painted that my senior year of high school,” he said softly. “It won first place in an art contest. Do you like it?”

“It’s incredible, Jay.”

Jared pressed a kiss to Jensen’s temple. “Come on, let’s get unpacked a little and then go see what’s up in the kitchen.” He pulled on the back of Jensen’s jacket.

“Yeah, alright.” Jensen let Jared slide his jacket off and then turned around to heft his bag onto the bed. He didn’t need to unpack everything just yet, but it would be good to take a few minutes to settle in and relax from the trip.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Sherri tapped on the door frame, her eyes flicking from Jared to Jensen to the painting on the wall. “Coffee’s ready.”

Jensen beamed. _Coffee._ “Oh, thank you, Mrs. Padalecki.”

“Please, Jensen, call me Sherri.”

“Alright, thank you, Sherri.” He followed her out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

Behind him, Jared sniggered. “Mom, you just found out Jensen’s first love. I’m second fiddle to coffee.”

Jensen snorted. “Mmm, true, that.”

Jared swatted him on the arm. Jensen just winked at him as he poured himself a mug, followed by a dollop of cream.

Sherri was clearly entertained by their antics, from the look on her face.

Jensen took a large swallow of the heavenly brew, and then glanced around the kitchen. Gerry was leaning over the open oven door, checking the turkey. Megan was brushing melted butter over the tops of rising dinner rolls. And Sherri had moved to the sink to wash potatoes. It was all so cheerily domestic.

“Is Jeff here yet?” Jared asked.

Sherri nodded. “He’s on his way back from the store, actually. He and Heather went to pick up some things for supper. They should be back in a few minutes.”

“Awesome! I can’t wait to see them.”

“Couple of hours on the turkey at the most,” Gerry announced, standing up and closing the oven door.

“That means we need to get the yams and the green beans ready to go in soon,” Sherri said.

“I’ll do the yams!” Jared nearly bounced in the air as he dashed over to the cupboard for supplies.

Megan burst out laughing while Sherri and Gerry just looked entirely unsurprised. “Jared _loves_ the candied yams,” Megan stage-whispered to Jensen.

“This does not surprise me at all.” Jensen grinned. Jared had an insatiable sweet tooth.

“Gerry, cut up these potatoes and put them in water, please?” Sherry asked her husband. “I’ll do the green beans.”

Gerry nodded and took the colander full of wet potatoes from his wife, getting out a cutting board and knife.

“What can I do, Sherri?” Jensen asked. He hated standing there doing nothing while everyone else was working.

Sherri sent him a grateful expression. “Feel like putting together a green salad?” She gestured to the pile of produce on the table.

“Sure!” A salad was _easy_.

“Thank you, Jensen. There’s more stuff in the fridge if you want it, vegetables and dressing. Just throw whatever you want in it.”

Jensen washed his hands and moved over to the table to survey his options. There were bags of baby spinach and mixed spring greens, carrots, and small grape tomatoes lying on top of a cutting board. They were wet, having obviously been washed previously.

“Here ya go.” Megan produced a knife and a grater before Jensen could ask for them.

“Thanks, Megan.” Jensen smiled at her, and then went to see what else was available in the refrigerator. He came out with a bag of snow peas, a cucumber, and a pomegranate.

“So, Jensen,” Sherri said, her voice fluttering a little. “How did you become famous at such a young age?”

Jensen dropped his produce on the table, astounded. “What?” He could see Jared staring at his mother, a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

Sherri turned toward him, visibly flustered. “Please, I don’t want to make a big deal about your celebrity. I just was surprised to see that it was you, the guy that Jared was such a huge fan of all through his teenage years. I hope his paintings of you don’t bother you.”

Jensen choked. _Celebrity?_ That was hilarious. He might have won a Lambda, but that hardly made him famous. Maybe within a very small circle of a hundred people, perhaps. And that was something that only happened this year. “I’m not a celebrity.”

Jared blurted at the same time, “What are you talking about? Jensen’s not a celebrity.”

Gerry and Megan both looked _very_ interested in the conversation, but for the moment, neither of them said anything.

Sherri frowned. “What do you mean? Of course he’s a celebrity. I don’t know if it was for sports or being a singer or something like that, but why else would you have been drawing and painting him since you were fourteen?”

Jared palmed his face, his entire frame going tense. “ _That’s_ what you think? Oh, crap, this is going to be harder than I thought.”

“Jared.” Sherri’s voice was serious now. “What are you talking about?”

“Mama, this is part of what we are going to tell everybody―why I’ve been drawing Jensen for so long. Jensen was never famous. He wasn’t a sports star or a child actor or in a boy band, or anything like that. He was just a regular kid from Texas, went to school, graduated, and then went to USC for college. He wasn’t ever famous for anything until he won a writing award this year.”

“Then how…?” Her face tightened with confusion. “There’s a painting of Jensen in your bedroom, Jared, that you did in high school. Five years ago! Were you secret pen pals or something, then? I never heard one word about a friend named Jensen while you were in high school, and I know I’ve never met him before.”

Jensen’s heart sank. _Shit._ This wasn’t the best start to this conversation.

“Mom, no.” Jared dropped the yams into the sink and walked over to his mother, taking her hands, his eyes pleading for her to understand. “We’ll explain everything, I promise. But that’s really Jensen. This is the guy I’ve been drawing all my life. And it’s a great story, Mama. Please, just give us a chance to tell it.”

Sherri stared up at her son’s face, scrutinizing for a long moment. Then she seemed to relax a little. “Alright. I don’t understand, so you boys had better fix that, pronto.”

“Yeah, Jared, spill,” Megan interjected. “I thought you told me the guy you painted was just some dude in your dreams. He wasn’t real, you said.”

Jensen could see the confusion flow through everyone. He gave Jared a look, silently asking him how he wanted to handle this. How he wanted Jensen to support him in this.

Jared pressed his lips together, then nodded. His face was pale. “Okay, I’m just gonna come right out and say it. Jensen was a guy in my dreams. I didn’t know he was real until we met in person at college.”

There was a chorus of “What?”

Sherri’s voice was alarmed. “You never said anything about dreaming about Jensen to me!”

“What do you mean?” Gerry asked at the same time.

“Look, it’s actually a really long story,” Jensen said.

“And it’s a little crazy,” Jared added. “So y’all are just going to have to listen to the whole thing before you start barraging us with questions.”

“So why don’t you start at the beginning, then?” Gerry suggested.

Jensen gave Jared a supportive smile as he began to assemble the salad, telling his boyfriend silently that they could do this and that it would be alright. It had been easier to tell his friends, who all knew about his dreams of Jared beforehand, so it wasn’t that difficult for them to make the leap from Jared being a dream to Jared being real. Telling Jared’s family was different. They would have to do more explaining, but Jensen held onto the belief that it would be okay in the end. He refused to accept any alternative.

Jared turned back to the sink and began peeling yams. “Jensen and I, it started when I was…” He looked over at Jensen. “How old was I? Eight? Nine?”

“Thereabouts.” Jensen squinted one eye as he tried to remember how old he was when he first met Jared in the park. “I was eleven, you weren’t quite nine yet.”

“Wait a minute… Aren’t you from Dallas, Jensen?” Gerry cut in.

Jensen nodded. “I grew up in Richardson, outside of Dallas.”

“That’s over four hours away, and we never went to Dallas when Jared was a kid.”

“Dad!” Jared exclaimed, exasperated. “I know that, but you gotta let us explain.”

The front door opened then and a woman who looked to be about five months pregnant walked in carrying a couple of grocery bags. She had shoulder-length dark blonde hair, glasses, and grey-blue eyes. A giant of a man was right behind her, carrying another four or five grocery bags. This had to be Jeff. He stood at least a foot taller than the woman, and had shorter, curlier hair than Jared, a slightly larger nose, and the same slanted eyes. Unlike Jared, however, Jeff had bags under his eyes. He appeared pale and tired.

“Mom, we’re back!” Jeff called from the door without looking into the kitchen. “Where d’ya want all this stuff?”

“Just put it on the table by Jensen for now,” Sherri answered.

Jeff and Heather finally looked at everyone in the kitchen and noticed the two additions.

“Jared!” Jeff’s face lit up, and he dropped the bags on the table next to the salad fixings. “How’re you doing, runt?”

Jensen gave a mental snort at the nickname. Jared, a runt? Hardly. Though it was probably a nickname Jared had earned as a kid back before all his growth spurts, like how Jensen had called him pipsqueak back when Jensen was taller than him. Jensen smiled at the memory. That nickname didn’t get much use anymore, except when they were feeling particularly nostalgic, or when Jensen wanted to provoke Jared into proving just how much he wasn’t a pipsqueak anymore.

Jared had dried off his hands. He laughed as he walked over to his brother, who wrapped him up in a huge hug. Jared had told Jensen that Jeff was taller than him, but it still surprised Jensen to see them standing side by side, Jeff winning the height contest by a couple of inches. Jensen was used to being one of the tallest people in the room, but the Padalecki men all made him feel short.

“Awesome, man, I’m awesome! You?”

“Alright!” Jeff replied, letting go of Jared and thumping him on the shoulder. “Man, it’s good to see you, Jay.”

“Heather!” Jared gushed at the woman. “Holy crap! You look…”

“Pregnant!” she finished for him.

“I was gonna say beautiful.” Jared greeted her with a hug. “How are you and my baby niece or nephew?”

“We’re good!” she mumbled into his shoulder.

Jensen noticed then that Jeff was staring at him with a slightly curious expression on his face. “You look familiar… do I know you?” Jeff asked.

Megan snorted in amusement as Jensen mumbled out a soft, “No.”

Jared let go of Heather to intercept his brother. “Jeff, Heather, this is Jensen Ackles, my boyfriend. Jensen, this is my big brother Jeff and his wife Heather.”

“Nice to meet you, Jensen,” Heather said, coming over to give him a hug. “We’ve heard so much about you from Jared.”

Jeff still had a puzzled look on his face, and he made no move to greet Jensen. “Then why…?”

“The reason he looks familiar is because he’s in all of Jared’s paintings,” Megan said, grinning at Jeff’s confusion.

“Really? How’s that possible if we’ve never met you before? Were you an art model or something?” Jeff sounded curious.

“Haha, no, he wasn’t an art model, even though he’d be great at it. We were just starting to explain when you came in,” Jared answered as he went back to the yams. “Which means we won’t have to tell the story twice.”

“Right before you came in, Jared dropped the bomb that he had been dreaming about Jensen as a teenager,” Megan said. “And Jensen wasn’t ever a celebrity. So that’s all you missed.”

Jeff frowned, perplexed, but didn’t say anything else.

“Can I help with something, Sherri?” Heather asked.

Jensen glanced around the kitchen. Every surface was occupied; there was no place for Heather to do anything else.

“No, honey, I think we’ve got a handle on things.”

“Have a seat, Heather. Apparently we’re going to hear a good story,” Gerry said, cutting into a large potato.

Heather sat down at the other end of the table from Jensen, looking relieved to get off her feet. Jeff sat down on a stool from the counter bar, and then everyone looked expectantly at Jensen and Jared.

Jensen swallowed as the tension stretched across the room.

“Well, come on!” Megan said, her voice excited. “You’ve got us all primed and ready. We’ll listen, no interruptions until you finish, I promise.” She smiled at Jensen, and he knew that she’d believe them.

Jeff, on the other hand, was another story. From the confused look on his face, Jensen suspected Jeff would need more convincing.

Jensen looked over at Jared, who seemed to be struggling with how to start. His whole body had gone tense again now that they had to resume their explanation. “So, Jared was almost nine, and I was eleven when we met for the first time,” Jensen said, reminding Jared where they’d left off earlier.

“Yeah. And before you say that’s not possible because I was here and Jensen was in Richardson, we _know_ it’s not possible, okay? But it happened anyway, in the park over on Jefferson Street. Y’all are just gonna have to take our word for it.”

“There are parts of this story that we _can’t_ explain, not really,” Jensen added as he peeled pomegranate seeds from the rind. “But it happened this way, no matter how crazy it sounds.”

“I can’t say this is inspiring confidence, guys,” Jeff said, a strained chuckle in his voice.

Jared flung a strip of yam peel across the kitchen at Jeff. It missed by a mile, falling to the floor with a splat. “Man, just hear us out before you dismiss us, alright?”

Jeff waved his hands in front of him, placating. “Alright,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

Jared picked the yam peel up off the floor, then went back to the sink and took a deep breath. He bit his lip and looked over at Sherri.

“Mom, do you remember that time when I was nine and you sent me to a psychiatrist because I was convinced my imaginary friend was real?”

Sherri froze in the middle of opening a can of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole. “Yes.” She seemed to have no idea why he was bringing that up.

“It was after I tried to introduce you to my friend in the kitchen, right? And he wasn’t there. You told me he wasn’t real, and I broke down, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.” Sherri’s eyes glanced back and forth between Jensen and Jared, as if she was trying to put a puzzle together. “You were so distraught, and I was so worried about you. But the psychiatrist said you were fine, that it was normal to grieve over realizing an imaginary friend wasn’t real. And you never talked about it again, so I figured you’d got over it.”

Jared nodded. “Mom, that friend _was_ real. It was Jensen. He was going by his middle name then, Ross. I called him Ross or Jensen Ross.”

“What?” Sherri looked pole-axed. “Jared, you’re not making sense.”

“It’s true, Sherri,” Jensen said. “Jared and I had been friends all summer, but I never met you until that day in the kitchen. I remember standing in _this_ kitchen with Jared, being nervous about meeting you for the first time. You were writing the babysitter a check. But you couldn’t see me, even though I was holding Jared’s hand. And then suddenly I was in my own kitchen, completely alone.”

“That’s not…” Sherri fumbled, put down the half-open can of soup, her hands shaking. “Jensen… Jensen Ross… Jared had been talking about a friend named Ross… and then drawings of a guy named Jensen… I thought the name sounded familiar, but I knew you didn’t have any friends named Jensen in high school… How?”

“I don’t know, Mama.” Jared gave a little shrug, his face pleading with her to believe him. “We have no idea how that happened, but it did.”

Jeff jumped in. “That’s not possible. This sounds a little… crazy.” His back was stiff, his entire frame radiating disquiet. Jensen thought he looked like he was trying to diagnose whether Jared needed psychiatric care. Again. _Shit_. This did not bode well.

“I know, Jeff.” Jared sighed, annoyance tingeing his voice. “We _know_ how crazy it sounds. Believe us, we _lived_ it and we know it sounds insane. Just let us finish.”

“There’s more?” Gerry asked, eyes wide.

“Lots more,” Jared replied. “You done with that cutting board?”

Gerry handed Jared the board and knife, then carried the pot full of chopped potatoes and water over to the stove.

Jared rinsed them off and began slicing the yams. “It was a few years later that I started dreaming of Jensen,” he said, his back to the room, shoulders tense. “It was like we were best friends again, seeing him every few nights. We grew up together in my dreams.”

Jensen had finished peeling out the pomegranate alleles, and he stood up to dump the rind in the garbage can. Then he walked over to the sink to wash the juice and pith off his hands. He bumped his hip up against Jared’s, knowing that Jared needed the brief contact.

Jared gave him half a smile as he continued cutting yams, nodding that he was okay. Jensen sat back down at the table and resumed putting the salad ingredients together.

“That’s when I started drawing Jensen,” Jared continued, “so I could have something of him when I was awake. I wanted to make him as real on paper as he was in my dreams. He grew up with me, and my artwork reflected that.”

“Honey, why didn’t you ever say anything?” Sherri asked, looking concerned.

“Because I didn’t want you to freak out because I was dreaming of the same guy all the time, the guy who used to be my imaginary friend. I didn’t want you to send me to a psychiatrist again.”

Sherri seemed to shrink in on herself, and she let out a small, wounded gasp.

“But I _did_ talk about it, Mom,” Jared insisted. “I went in to the school counselor about it once, and she said as long as I knew it was a dream and not real, there wasn’t really any problem with dreaming about the same person over and over. I talked about it with Sandy and Chad, and Megan, too. They all knew that the guy I kept drawing was just someone I dreamed about. You remember that, right, Megan?”

Megan had sat down at the counter bar next to Josh. “Yeah. I used to watch you draw pictures of Jensen without any reference picture, and I would ask you about him. It’s true, Mom. Jared told me that it wasn’t someone he knew, just someone he dreamed about.”

“Jensen helped me realize I was gay,” Jared continued quickly. Jensen thought he was trying to say as much as he could before someone interrupted him again. “He helped me cope with the bullying and teasing in school. I know I was really lucky in high school—Sandy and Chad were really awesome and helped keep the worst of the bullying at bay, and things would have been so much worse without them. At the campus LGBT center, I talk to kids that barely survived high school all the time, so I _know_ how lucky I was. What you guys don’t know is that Jensen was a big part of that, too. He was _there_ for me at night. He was my best friend, someone I could talk to about anything and everything, and he kept me emotionally grounded, kept me strong, helped me deal. He was the reason I went to UCLA—because in my dreams he was in Los Angeles at USC.”

“And then you met at college, this guy who looked like the guy you’d been dreaming about?” Heather asked, her tone curious and clarifying, not incredulous.

“Yes, but there’s a lot more to it than that,” Jensen said.

“ _Still_ more?” Jeff asked. His body language had progressed to skeptical.

“Yeah,” Jared said, putting down the knife he’d been using to cut yams. “Jensen’s side of it.”

All eyes in the room swerved to Jensen, who was grating carrots onto the cutting board. He froze for a second, then continued the motion, watching his hands to make sure he didn’t accidentally grate his knuckles. “See, I’d grown up dreaming of Jared, too.”

Astonishment flickered across everyone’s faces. Jensen could see that Megan was completely enchanted with the story, Heather was curious and open-minded, Sherri was looking bewildered but not disbelieving, and Gerry looked pensive. Jeff was growing incredulous, his eyes darting back and forth between Jensen and Jared, looking like he didn’t believe a word of what he was hearing. Jensen was worried about how Jeff was going to react.

“Seriously?” Megan asked.

Jensen could practically see the hearts popping up in her eyes. She reminded him a lot of Mackenzie in that moment, and he smiled at her. “Yes.”

“Oh my God! That makes you like dream soul mates or something!”

Jensen huffed out a laugh. It wasn’t the first time someone had used the phrase “soul mates” to describe them. It was such a fanciful, romantic notion, yet it seemed to fit. “I don’t know about that,” he hedged. Even if that was what they were thinking between themselves and their close friends, it wasn’t something he was ready to admit to others yet. “But I grew up with Jared in my dreams. He was my best friend, too, and he helped me deal when my parents kicked me out for being gay.”

“Oh, Jensen,” Sherri gasped, her face sorrowful and all _motherly_. She seemed to be fighting the urge to wrap him in a hug. Jensen appreciated the sentiment, but he was glad when she restrained herself. He would rather keep the conversation moving away from his family; it wasn’t that relevant to their dream connection.

He sprinkled the carrots over the bowl of salad greens, mixing them together. “I’m not an artist, so I don’t have the same sort of proof that Jared does with his pictures of me. But I am a writer. I just published a book that I wrote before Jared and I actually met, and I based one of the main characters on the guy in my dreams. I used a lot of the conversations we had in my dreams in the book, even though the plot is very different. So if you read that book, you’ll recognize Jared in the character of Jason.”

“That’s what got me motivated to meet Jensen face to face.” Jared was putting the yam slices into a large baking dish. “I read his book for class, and it was so bizarre to see myself in it, to read conversations I remember having with Jensen in my dreams.”

“Wait a second,” Gerry interrupted. “You’re saying that… What are you saying?”

Jared bit his lip, looking apprehensive. “Yeah, Dad, that’s exactly what we’re saying. We weren’t just dreaming _about_ each other. We were dreaming _with_ each other, together. Shared dreams in which we talked to each other, had whole conversations. But we didn’t know each other was real until we met in April.”

“Bullshit.” Jeff was scowling, his arms folded across his chest. “This is the biggest crock of shit I’ve ever heard.”

Jensen dropped his knife to the cutting board. He frowned as he saw Jared sigh and sag against the counter.

“It’s not, Jeff, I promise,” Jared insisted.

“I’m a doctor, Jared. We do this thing called _science_. I _know_ that it’s not physically possible for people to share dreams. There’s no such thing as psychics, or clairvoyance, or visions, or whatever people call it. A person’s brain waves _cannot_ travel outside of their own head. What you’re telling us is _physically impossible_.”

It wasn’t like he hadn’t said the same thing to himself a number of times, but hearing Jeff just… _invalidate_ their connection like that hit Jensen right in the gut. Jensen had a flash of a thought about his friend Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who had offered to get them in touch with parapsychology researchers so they could find out more about this dream bond. They’d declined, but suddenly Jensen thought it might have been a good idea—maybe it would have given them some ammunition against Jared’s brother, who seemed determined to dismiss everything they were saying.

“Don’t you think we know that?” Jared’s voice was rising in volume, his face flushed as he stepped away from the counter and gestured at his brother. “I’m not stupid, Jeff. I took science classes. We know we can’t really explain it. But it happens anyway.”

Jensen jumped in, hoping that more evidence might fend off the looming argument. “Look, in my book, I wrote about what I called ‘husband trees,’ two trees that grow together, intertwined. I wrote that book before I ever met Jared in person. And he made a painting of husband trees about the same time—before we met. We brought pictures if you want to see it. I know it isn’t scientific proof, but it’s something.”

Jared nodded. “I even titled it _Husband Trees_ , if that means anything. My advisor can vouch for the date I painted it, too.”

Jeff was standing now, undeterred. “Then you guys had to have met before,” he insisted. “You collaborated or something. What I don’t understand is why you would concoct a story like this. It’s not like you develop such an elaborate… lie.”

There was a shocked gasp from several people, Jensen included. He could see Jared visibly flinch. Jensen reacted viscerally as well, his muscles tightening with outrage. Yes, their story was incredible, but to call their entire relationship a _lie_? Like hell he would stand there and let that fly. “Hey! That is uncalled for, man,” he snapped, standing up.

“Fuck you, Jeff!” Jared barked at the same time.

“Boys!” Sherri tried to intervene.

It was like Jared didn’t hear her or Jensen. “I’ve never been a liar, and we’re telling the truth. Fuck you if you think we’re making it all up. I thought you had more faith in me than that.”

“But Jared, this is crazy!” Jeff pleaded. “It makes no sense!”

Jared seemed to deflate then, his face falling. “You once promised me you had my back, Jeff, that you’d back me up any time I needed you. And I promised Jensen that it would be okay to tell you all of this, because I believed you’d be supportive.”

Jeff winced. Jensen entertained the notion of slugging him in the stomach for hurting Jared like that.

“Thanks for letting me down.” Jared walked out of the kitchen and through the front door. He didn’t slam the door, but he might as well have for the way everyone jerked at the muted thud.

Jensen looked over at where Jared had been working, yam slices half-arranged in the baking dish, spices, brown sugar, and a unopened bag of marshmallows. He scowled—normally Jared would have half that bag eaten by now.

“You know,” Jensen said conversationally as he rinsed his hands off in the sink, breaking the stunned silence in the room. He constrained the anger in his voice as best as he could, because he didn’t need to direct it at the rest of the family. Just Jeff. “My friend Jeff Morgan and Sandy were both there in April when Jared and I met for the first time. They could easily vouch for it that our shock when we saw each other wasn’t something we faked. Sandy, Chad, and my friends Chris and Danneel could testify to us dreaming about each other growing up. And we could even do some scientific testing to prove that we talk to each other in our dreams, if you really wanted. But the point is that we shouldn’t have to go through all of that. We shouldn’t be on _trial_ for _you_. You’re Jared’s family, and he loves you. You all know he’s a shit liar. You should give him the benefit of the doubt. He deserves that much from you.”

With that, Jensen followed Jared out of the kitchen.

“Way to be an asshole, Jeff,” Megan grit out as Jensen walked out the front door.

It was cool when he stepped outside, the chill a sobering shock to his system, and he knew they would need jackets if they stayed out here for very long. Jensen took a deep breath as he closed the door behind him, shutting them away from Jared’s family. Jared was standing on the porch off to Jensen’s right, gazing out over the front yard. For a moment, Jensen took in his stance, arms folded across his chest, shoulders rigid, chestnut hair falling on his cheek. He couldn’t see Jared’s face, but he knew his boyfriend was aching.

Jensen walked over to Jared and stepped in front of him, leaning on the half-wall of the porch. He reached forward and put his hands on Jared’s hips, squeezing them gently.

Jared sighed and relaxed, pressing into him and resting his forehead against Jensen’s, his arms wrapping around Jensen’s shoulders. His body heat suffused into Jensen, warding off the chill. “I didn’t expect them to believe us without question,” Jared said softly. “But I didn’t think they’d call us liars, either.”

“ _They_ didn’t call us liars, Jay. Just Jeff. Megan believes us. I think your Mom does, too. Jeff’s just shocked, and he doesn’t understand. He’ll come around. And if he doesn’t—”

“I can’t lose my brother, Jen,” Jared interrupted.

Jensen’s heart broke just a little at the pain in Jared’s voice. Shit. “You’re not going to _lose_ your brother over this, Jay. He’s not going to stop loving you or disown you. And so what if he doesn’t believe us entirely? It doesn’t change the fact that we’re together, and that we’re going to stay together for a very long time. So he’s going to have to get used to it. He will, just watch.”

Jared sagged into him a little more. “I hope you’re right. I know I’ve been trying to act like I’m all cool about this, but I’ve been really worried about how they’re gonna react. It’s kind of like coming out again. Only this time instead of coming out gay, I’m telling them about this whole ‘double life’ I’ve been hiding since I was a teenager. That’s kind of a big thing for them to wrap their heads around, you know?”

Jensen rubbed his hands up Jared’s flanks. “They supported you when you came out. They’ll support you on this too, even if it takes them a while to accept it.”

The door opened again, and Jared stood back up, though he stayed close to Jensen, standing sideways between Jensen’s legs to face the door. Jensen left his arms around Jared’s waist, refusing to appear anything less than a hundred percent _with_ Jared on this.

It was Jeff. For such a tall man, he looked a little small and sheepish, his shoulders hunched into his chest. “So. I’ve been informed by everyone in there that if I don’t come out and apologize, I can go home without supper.”

Jared gave a darkly amused snort. “Wow. That’s a serious threat, man.”

If Jeff had an appetite remotely similar to Jared’s, the prospect of no Thanksgiving dinner would be a major punishment, Jensen imagined. Thanksgiving was one of Jared’s favorite holidays.

Jeff nodded, looking serious and a little scared. “Yeah. But they’re right. I guess I had my doctor hat on when I should have been wearing my big brother cap.” He hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and rocked on his heels. “This residency is kicking my ass. I’ve been in doctor mode for weeks—it’s become my default mode of operation because I rarely get any down time. It’s kind of hard to switch back to being a normal human being. Heather’s called me on it a few times, too; she says I’m supposed to be her husband, not her obstetrician. So I might not understand this dream thing you guys are talking about, but that doesn’t mean I should have called you a liar. I’m sorry, Jay.”

Jared shifted on his feet, folding his arms across his chest again. “I know how it sounds, man. But we’re not making it up. It’s real, and it’s who we are. It was hard for us to believe it, too, and we’re the ones who lived it.”

“Hell, I’m _still_ wrapping my head around it all, and we’ve been together for six months already,” Jensen added. It was a bit of an exaggeration for Jeff’s benefit—it had taken Jensen a while to come to grips with the depth of his connection to Jared, but he was much more comfortable and confident in the two of them now. There were still occasional odd moments when Jensen would be taken aback, like when he first saw Jared’s house, but those were progressively more infrequent now.

Jeff took that in, and then he nodded, giving them a strained smile. “Okay, fair enough. I’m just gonna suspend my disbelief here for a while until I get the whole story, okay?”

From the look on Jeff’s face, Jensen suspected that he was just going to keep his mouth shut until he had something more to go on than solely their word. Somehow, Jensen doubted he’d be able to stay out of “scientist” mode entirely. Oh well. Jensen believed what he’d said to Jared earlier―it didn’t matter if Jeff believed them, not really. Except that it would matter to Jared, who had never experienced any sort of familial rejection.

Jared seemed to relax a little, taking his brother’s peace offering. “Fair enough,” he echoed.

The door opened again, and Sherri poked her head out. “Are you boys done making up?” she asked, scowling at Jeff.

“Yes, Mom, I apologized,” Jeff replied.

“Good! Now get your butts back in here! Supper’s not gonna make itself!”

* * *

After several hours of final food preparations (and Sherri fending off the Padalecki men from grazing before supper), they were finally sitting down to eat in the dining room. Jensen and Jared had put in the extra table leaves, and Jeff and Heather had set the table.

And then Jensen had been bewildered by the way it seemed to turn into a free for all. Everyone was talking animatedly, moving around each other for food in a synchronized dance. Megan and Jared were battling with spoons to get at the mashed potatoes, passing dishes around and play-arguing about who got what dish first, Jeff and Jared competing to see who could put the most food on one plate. Sherri and Gerry didn’t seem perturbed by any of this, and were instead bickering good-naturedly on how to carve up the turkey. From the routine feel to everything, Jensen figured that this was normal for them, part of their Thanksgiving ritual.

Thanksgiving dinners at the Ackles house, on the other hand, were always very formal, serious affairs, with so much emphasis on presentation, decoration, and appearance. Every dish had to be perfectly displayed, every napkin meticulously folded, every fork shining, every glass spotless. The same thing went for Jensen and his siblings—they all had to be dressed in their Sunday best, suits and dresses and not a hair out of place. As Jensen watched Jared lob a roll at Jeff, who snatched it out of the air without really looking, Jensen knew his mother would be aghast at the barely contained chaos that was the Padalecki family.

Jensen decided right then that he really liked it here, and a wide smile spread across his face.

He had a very full plate, too, though not as heaping as Jared’s. Turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, yams, and another plate with his green salad, steamed vegetables, cranberry-pomegranate sauce, and a roll. He had no idea how he was going to eat it all, let alone have room for dessert. Besides the yams, which Jensen thought could be dessert in their own right, given the amount of syrup, sugar, and marshmallows they were drenched in, there was also apple pie, pumpkin pie, brownies, and home-made fudge. Obviously, the Padalecki family took their desserts seriously, Jensen thought, amused. Jared’s sweet tooth must be genetic.

The moment everyone seemed to settle, Gerry cleared his throat. Expecting a prayer, Jensen dropped his hands into his lap. He hadn’t prayed before a meal since he moved out of his parents’ house, and he had no intention of ever taking up the practice again. But he could be respectful if Jared’s family said a prayer.

“We’re not a particularly religious bunch,” Gerry said, looking at Jensen. “But we do like to take a minute at Thanksgiving to do just that—express our gratitude. So I’ll just say that I’m very thankful to have my entire family here tonight, particularly Jared, who we don’t see nearly enough now that he lives in Los Angeles. And I’m grateful that our family is growing to include Heather, my soon-to-be grandchild, and now Jensen, too. Thank you both for joining our family.”

Jensen felt his face heating up as there was a murmur of agreement from everyone at the table. This wasn’t quite what he expected—his family devoted their prayers to thanking God for things God had no hand in, in his opinion—and the sincerity of Gerry’s words made a knot form in Jensen’s throat.

“Alright, I won’t keep you from your food with any more speeches.” Gerry continued. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Let’s eat!”

There was a chorus of “Happy Thanksgiving!” and then everyone dug into their food.

Jensen let out a moan. The food was _delicious_. The turkey was moist, the ham sweet, the stuffing perfectly fluffy and seasoned. And the salad, he was pleased to note, was _awesome_.

After a long moment of semi-orgasmic food noises from everyone, Sherri spoke up. “I agree with Gerry. I am so happy to have Jared and Jensen here! Megan’s home from Austin, and I don’t see Jeff and Heather as much as I’d like with them living in San Antonio now. So I’m just thrilled to have my whole family here.”

“Aw, Mom, has the empty nest been getting to you?” Megan teased.

Sherri seemed unrepentant as she nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice to have more time for myself and Gerry, and I couldn’t be prouder of all of you. But I do miss having a full, noisy house.”

Jeff and Jared burst out laughing at that. “Mom, you were always shouting at us to tone it down!” Jared said.

Sherri waved her hand at him. “I know, I know. Sometimes, anyway. I certainly don’t miss the two of you rough housing and breaking bones or furniture.”

Jeff chuckled. “Well, I’m just glad I got lucky enough to have a few days off so I could come back home to be with my family, my wife, and my unborn daughter.”

The dining room erupted as everyone gasped or cheered.

“It’s a girl?” Sherri’s face was lit up with glee. “I’m having a baby granddaughter?”

Heather was glowing. “Yes, it’s a girl!”

“That’s wonderful!” Gerry beamed.

Jensen found himself smiling widely, too. Despite the rocky start with Jeff, Jensen felt a pleased contentedness fill him. He was here with Jared, whose family was growing. Jensen believed that Jeff would come around to him and Jared eventually, and he was excited at the idea of a niece. Jensen loved kids—adored his nephew Kyle, even though he didn’t get to see Josh and his family all that often. He loved being an uncle. And now that Jared was going to experience that for himself, he was happy for his boyfriend. He put his hand on Jared’s thigh. Jared was practically vibrating with excitement.

Jared stood up to high-five Jeff and Heather across the table. “Oh my God! That’s awesome! Congratulations! I’m gonna be the best uncle _ever_. She’s gonna adore me.”

“Do you have any names picked out yet?” Jensen directed his question at Heather.

She shook her head, chuckling softly. “We have a really long list at the moment, but we haven’t narrowed it down yet.”

“You _have_ to let me help come up with names!” Megan said, bouncing in her seat.

Jeff smiled indulgently at his sister. “You bet, Megs.”

Jensen could tell that he wasn’t just humoring her, and he felt a thread of relief. Jeff obviously loved Megan and Jared. Jeff had been cool since he’d apologized that afternoon, just talking casually with them, catching up with Jared and getting to know Jensen a little better. He clearly still didn’t believe their dream story, but he wasn’t challenging them on it anymore, and he was acting normally towards Jared, showing no signs of rejecting either of them. So Jensen felt more confident that Jeff would come around, probably sooner rather than later.

Gerry held up his glass, and everyone quickly joined in. “To Jeff and Heather and their baby girl!”

“Cheers!” Jensen joined in, clanking his glass with everyone else’s and grinning.

Jared shoved a large forkful of yams into his mouth. “Oh my god,” he gushed, though it sounded more like “uh ma goh” through his mouthful of food.

Jensen just sniggered at the blissful look on Jared’s face. The way his boyfriend loved food… it was endearing and hilarious and gross sometimes.

Jared swallowed. “I am a friggin’ genius. These yams are amazing!”

There were hums of approval around the table, but Jensen snorted. “I’m surprised there were any marshmallows left to put on the yams.”

Jared gave him a mock-wounded look. “Well, what did you expect? They’re _marshmallows_.” Once they’d come back into the kitchen to finish the dinner preparations, Jared had happily munched most of the bag of marshmallows that were supposed to top the candied yams. When he’d realized that there weren’t enough left for the yams, Jared had panicked momentarily, until Sherri had produced another bag and relieved him of his yam-making duties.

Sherri laughed. “Why do you think I had an extra bag? I know my son far too well to ever keep only _one_ bag of marshmallows in the house when he’s around.”

Megan snorted around a mouthful of salad. “And gummi bears and Twizzlers and Cheetos.”

Jared perked up. “There’s gummi bears in the house? Where?” He looked like he was about ready to go searching for them.

Jensen nearly choked on a bite of turkey. “Three plates of Thanksgiving dinner isn’t enough for you, Jay?”

Jared squinted at him. “Not for _now_ , Jen. _Later_.” Jared suddenly turned melodramatic and dropped his voice half an octave, affecting an accent that Jensen guessed was supposed to sound sinister. “I will find them, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, but rest assured, those gummi bears are _mine_.”

Jensen mock-pouted, turning his own version of puppy eyes on Jared. “What, you aren’t gonna share with me, darling light of my life? I’m devastated, _devastated_ , I tell you.” Jensen loved gummi bears just as much as Jared did, but he loved wheedling them out of Jared even more.

Jared scowled. When Jensen turned the sad eyes up a notch, Jared squared his shoulders, standing off to Jensen, but after a moment he visibly caved. “Aw, Jen! You fight dirty. Fine, I’ll share.”

Jensen just grinned in triumph and then turned back to his meal. He found everyone at the table gawking at him and Jared, astonished looks on their faces.

“Jared _never_ shares his gummi bears,” Sherri explained. “Never. _Wars_ have been fought in this house over gummi bears, and Jared always won.”

Megan was once again sporting hearts in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything as her mouth was full of food.

“You two are so adorable I’m gonna puke,” Jeff complained, but he was smiling.

Jensen felt his face flush slightly and decided to change the subject. “So, Megan, how are you liking your first semester of college?”

“Oh my god, I _love_ it! My classes are _awesome_ , except for biology, because the professor is _boring_ and puts everyone to sleep.”

Jensen nodded. He was well familiar with having to struggle through a class where the professor had a droning, monotonous voice. It was even worse when the subject material would otherwise be really interesting, or when it was required for his major. “Any class in particular that you really like?”

Megan shoved a large forkful of turkey and mashed potatoes in her mouth. “Uh huh,” she mumbled, then swallowed. “My calculus class, and my chemistry class—lab is _so_ much fun—and psychology is so interesting.”

“How are your grades?” Gerry asked.

Megan smiled over at her parents. “I got the highest grade in the class on the last chemistry exam!” She held her arms up in triumph. “And I’m getting A’s on everything else, even the biology exams. The book is interesting, at least, though the lectures _suck_.”

Jensen was impressed. Jared had said a number of times before how Megan was smart, always got good grades, but still, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology all in the very first semester? That was _ambitious_ , and for her to be getting all A’s? Impressive.

“Smarty pants,” Jared shot at her, though he was grinning.

“That’s my girl, setting the curve,” Gerry added.

Megan beamed around a mouthful of salad.

“How about you, Jeff? How are things going with you? Still working insane hours?” Sherri asked.

Jeff palmed his face. “Oh my god, yes.”

Jensen mentally sniggered. Jeff sounded exactly like Megan.

“He’s working about eighty hours a week, often more,” Heather said. “It’s crazy. He’s so exhausted and grumpy all the time.” Her voice was affectionate, though, so Jensen knew she wasn’t criticizing.

Jeff pouted at his wife, but didn’t argue. “I really am lucky that I was able to get a few days off for Thanksgiving. Just a couple more years of this, and then I’m done with my residency, and I can cut back.”

“Why such long hours?” Megan asked, looking shocked.

“The residency is required post-degree training for all doctors,” Jeff explained. “It takes a few years after you finish your doctorate degree. They have to make sure we know what we’re doing before we’re fully licensed, and the residency gives us experience with patients. It’s pretty typical for them to require workloads around 80-100 hours a week.”

“Wow, that’s intense,” Megan replied.

“It is, but it’s good, too,” Jeff said. “I’m learning a lot.”

“What’s your specialty?” Jensen asked, curious.

“Family medicine. I’m gonna be a family GP. Specialists can make more money, but I really think that there aren’t enough general practitioners. I’d rather have the closer, regular relationship with my patients and help keep them healthy than just see them when things go really wrong.”

Jensen liked that idea. Jeff seemed to be in medicine more because he cared about people, not for the money. “That’s good.”

Jeff smiled at him.

“Aren’t you working on your Ph.D., Jensen?” Gerry asked.

Jensen nodded. “I just finished my Master’s, which you get part-way through the degree after you pass your field examination. But it was really rewarding for me regardless. My brother and sister and my friend Danneel came out for the commencement ceremony, which was great because I haven’t seen any of them in a while. We had a party at our house with all our friends to celebrate.”

“It was awesome!” Jared added. “He looked so handsome in his robes and sash.”

Jensen gave Jared a withering look, complete with a roll of his eyes, though inside he was pleased. “But now I’m preparing for my qualification exam, and I’m brainstorming with my advisor about dissertation topics.”

“And this is in English Lit?” Sherri asked.

“Literature and Creative Writing,” Jensen answered. “My dissertation will be a critical thesis based on literary research, probably related to queer theory, and an original creative piece.”

“Do you think you’ll be a college professor, or are you going to publish more books?” Heather asked.

“Both, probably. I enjoy teaching, so that’s definitely the ideal, and if I can continue to publish books, I will. I’ll have to see if I can come up with another story as successful as [_Husband Tree_](http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt174/deadflowers5/supernatural/bookcopycopy.jpg).”

“That’s your book that won the award, right?” Megan asked. “The one where you based a character on Jared?”

Jensen nodded. “It’s under the name J. P. Eastland.”

“Cool! I want to read it.”

Jensen felt himself blush a little, pleased over her interest but also a little wary. “Just be aware that there are several explicit love scenes in it. Gay scenes.”

Megan waved her fork at him, dismissive. “I can get over that.”

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Jensen made sure to _not_ look at Sherri or Gerry. Really, he didn’t want to see their expressions over talking about gay sex scenes with their eighteen-year-old daughter. At the same time, he loved that he _could_ talk queer theory and gay sex scenes here and not have to worry about people reacting badly.

Beside him, Jared sniggered, winking at his sister. “Have fun, Meggie. Those scenes are _hot_.”

“Jared!” Sherri scolded, but she sounded exasperated and amused rather than offended.

Jensen blushed harder and shoved a large scoop of potatoes into his mouth. He didn’t need to say anything more on this topic. Instead he nudged Jared in the ribs as he swallowed his food. “Tell them about the art you sold, Jay,” he prodded.

“Oh! Yeah! I sold a few paintings for over three thousand each!”

“Jared!” Sherri gasped, her face alight with pride. “That’s wonderful!”

“Yeah, I put it toward the down payment on our house—we would have had to save up for a while otherwise.”

“Congratulations, son.” Gerry beamed, then faked sniffling back tears. “I’m so proud, you’re becoming such a responsible adult.”

Jensen chuckled. Clearly, Jared’s sense of humor also ran in the family, and it was obvious that Gerry was proud, despite the silliness.

“I know.” Jared sounded grave. “It’s disturbing.”

“How much longer until you’re done with your degree, Jay?” Jeff asked.

“This is my last year. I’ll be graduating in June. Two more quarters and I’m done!”

“And then what?” Gerry asked.

“It depends. I want to try to sell my artwork, so I’ll see how that goes. I may have to keep a day job for a while, though.” Jared was mopping up gravy off his nearly empty plate with a roll.

“You still at the gym?” Megan asked.

Jared nodded, his mouth full. “I’m gonna look into teaching art. I really like doing the art workshops at the campus LGBT center. I think that doing something like that with kids would be a lot of fun.”

Sherri beamed at her son. “Taking after your mom, huh?”

Jared smiled back at her. “Yeah, Mama, I am.”

Jensen grinned as he ate and the conversation continued. He wasn’t accustomed to all this family love floating about the table, but it really refreshing at the same time. There wasn’t any sense of pressure to do a certain thing or be a certain way, no jockeying for approval. Just acceptance and encouragement and support. Jared really was lucky to have such an amazing family—it was clear to Jensen that Jared’s family was a major reason why Jared was such an incredible person. So in that sense, Jensen was lucky Jared had an awesome family, too.

* * *

After going through his nightly routine of using the bathroom, brushing his teeth, and removing his contacts, Jensen fell into Jared’s bed with a groan. “Oh my god, I am _so_ full.”

Jared collapsed next to him, jostling the bed and making Jensen’s stomach complain at the movement. “Urgh. Ate too much.”

“Not possible, you human garbage disposal.” Jensen shifted around, getting under the covers. This bed was smaller than their California King back home, and while there was room for the both of them, there wasn’t any extra to spare.

“Ha. Shows what you know. My mama’s cooking can always fill me up.”

“After you’ve had five plates of it plus three helpings of dessert.”

Dinner had been full of fun conversation and incredible food, and Jensen had eaten quite a bit more than he expected. After the meal, everyone had migrated to the living room to watch football, and then the grazing continued as they ate dessert while the Cowboys beat the Redskins, 27-20. New England had also beat Detroit, 20-12, so all in all it had been a good night for two of Jensen’s favorite teams. If they hadn’t been so lethargic from too much food and tryptophan, Jensen figured there would have been dancing when the Cowboys won. Instead, everyone cheered with their butts firmly planted in their seats. After the games, everyone pitched in to help clean up, no complaining or grouching, and the sense of togetherness really amazed Jensen.

“Well, can you blame me? That was some damned good cookin’.” Jared squirmed under the covers with Jensen.

“That it was. Haven’t had a Thanksgiving that good in years.”

Jared rolled sideways to look at Jensen’s face, his arm coming across his chest. Jensen knew that Jared had heard the double meaning of that sentence. “Well, my parents seemed glad to have you here, at least. It went better than I thought it would after the argument with Jeff.”

“Yeah, Jeff was alright. See, he’s coming around already.” Jensen privately thought that one successful dinner did not mean they had cleared all the hurdles of this visit. Jeff still seemed like he was collecting data about their relationship, even though he was being polite. And while Gerry and Sherri were being nothing less than completely welcoming, he wouldn’t be surprised if there was more to come on that front. But Jensen didn’t say anything. He didn’t have the energy for an emotional conversation, and he needed to keep reassuring Jared that things with his family would work out alright. He did still believe that the situation would be fine; he just expected a few more bumps in the road before it all worked out.

Jensen frowned at himself. He was feeling a bit maudlin and jaded at the moment, which was atypical for him. The holidays had been very bittersweet since he’d moved to LA. While he had long been accustomed to the ache surrounding his parents, and he was usually good at not letting it bother him most of the time, it was harder during the holidays. Yes, he always had at least one of his friends around for Thanksgiving and Christmas. A couple of years he had made the trip back to Texas to see Mac and Josh for Christmas at Josh’s house, but when he couldn’t manage a trip, or they couldn’t come see him, he always talked to them, at least. But the deep pang in his heart that he wasn’t welcome in his childhood home was more poignant this time of year. Texas wasn’t home anymore—Jared was. And today, here, being welcomed by Jared’s family and accepted for who he was despite the unbelievable story of how they met… It felt so amazingly wonderful and made him bleed a little inside at the same time.

“Hey,” Jared whispered. “It’s okay, Jen. I understand.”

Jensen rolled into Jared’s embrace. Just when he got done reassuring Jared, his boyfriend turned around and comforted him. Jensen brushed aside his pensive thoughts and focused instead on the reassuring presence of Jared beside him. He tucked his head onto Jared’s shoulder, their legs scissoring together. It was one of their typical sleeping positions, and Jensen felt lethargy sweep through him, warm and comfortable in Jared’s arms. Jared’s hand slid down to rest on Jensen’s ass, giving it a light squeeze.

Jensen pressed a kiss onto Jared’s chest. “Mmm, too full. Sleepy.”

Jared chuckled softly. “Yeah, I know. It’s been a long day.” He kissed Jensen’s forehead.

Jensen lifted his face, meeting Jared’s gaze. He felt his eyes crinkle as a smile crept across his face. In the moonlight-dim room, Jared’s eyes looked dark green, and they twinkled a little as Jared grinned back at him. Their lips met in a wet kiss, and Jensen felt the faint stirrings of arousal off in the distance. But he was too exhausted—an early morning plane trip, a day full of emotional conversation, and far too much food were all making him feel sluggish and heavy. He fell back to the bed, breaking the kiss, and made himself comfortable on Jared’s chest once more.

“G’night, Jen,” Jared whispered, affection audible in his voice.

“Mmm, g’night.”

A few heartbeats later, Jensen was asleep.

* * *

  


> _Jensen is sitting on a park bench, a jacket zipped up to his throat, sipping on a travel mug of coffee. The trees in the park are a vibrant riot of cayenne, auburn, gold, and ochre-orange, leaves rustling in the breeze. It’s the same park he met Jared at all those years ago. Jared promised him they’d visit it while they were in Texas, but he doesn’t remember how he got here._
> 
> _Jensen feels a pull in his chest, off to his left, and he smiles. They’re dreaming, he knows it, and he can feel Jared drawing closer to him, like tension releasing on a rubber band. Content, he takes in a deep breath of the crisp air, listening to the crackle of leaves on the ground as Jared approaches._
> 
> _Warm fingers slide across the back of his neck and up into his hair. Jensen hums in pleasure and leans into the touch as Jared sits down next to him, pressing close along Jensen’s side._
> 
> _“I think the leaves have fallen by now, actually,” Jared says. “It’s a bit late for the fall color.”_
> 
> _“Don’t care. It’s still nice.”_
> 
> _“Hmm, yeah, it is. We’ll see if there are any leaves left tomorrow.”_
> 
> _The breeze blows Jared’s hair into his eyes. Jensen brushes it behind his ear. “So, first day with the family. How you feeling about it so far? Still worried?”_
> 
> _Jared bites his lip. “Maybe a little bit. I really want them to believe us about our dreams. Megan does, but Mom and Dad? I don’t know yet. And Jeff definitely doesn’t. What do you think?”_
> 
> _Jensen marvels at how they are always so honest with each other in their dreams. It’s like this is the only place where they are safe enough to be completely vulnerable. They’re certainly honest with each other when they’re awake, but they tend to have their deep conversations here. “I still think it will all work out okay, even if there are a few potholes along the way. I think Jeff still hasn’t made up his mind about us, but he’s been polite otherwise. Your parents are awesome, Jay. You’re really lucky.”_
> 
> _“Yeah, I know. Things could have been so much worse for me—a gay boy in Texas. When I think about what your parents did to you, I thank God that my parents were so cool about it.”_
> 
> _“I do, too. I’m glad you didn’t have to go through what I did. That’s why I know that your family will be okay with you and me after they get used to the idea.”_
> 
> _Jared hums softly and puts his arm around Jensen’s shoulders. They sit there, quiet for a moment, together._
> 
> _“Megan gets these big hearts in her eyes whenever she looks at me,” Jensen says after a few minutes. “It’s a little weird.”_
> 
> _Jared throws back his head and laughs. “She doesn’t have a crush on you, dude, not really. She’s a huge romantic and our relationship fits right into the stories she loved as a kid. We’re like the perfect example of a fairytale romance. She knows you’re mine, don’t worry.”_
> 
> _Jensen gives a relieved snicker. “I just hope she doesn’t feel cheated if she doesn’t find a relationship as ‘magical’ as ours.” He makes quote marks with his fingers._
> 
> _“Hmm, yeah.” Jared nuzzles his nose into Jensen’s hair behind his ear. A shiver traces down Jensen’s spine._
> 
> _After another long moment, Jared lets out a little noise of frustration, and his body stiffens next to Jensen._
> 
> _“What is it?”_
> 
> _Jared huffs out a sigh. “It’s just… this thing with Jeff is really bugging me. This whole visit, I kept telling myself that, hey, my family is awesome, they’ll understand and it will all go really well. But it’s been really hard not to worry about how they’ll take it. I know it isn’t logical, but I couldn’t stop imagining Mom and Dad going all inquisition on us to determine if you’re good enough for me or be upset that we’re moving so fast. But my parents are being better about it than I expected, and Jeff’s the one who freaked out over it. It’s just thrown me for a loop.”_
> 
> _Jensen hums, thoughtful. “Well, let’s think about it. You’ve been keeping in touch with your parents over the phone, right?”_
> 
> _Jared nods. “Yeah. I talk to them at least once a week. Megan too.”_
> 
> _“So they already knew about us buying the house together, right? You talk to them about me?”_
> 
> _“Yeah, I do.”_
> 
> _Jensen gives Jared a sly smirk. “What do you tell them?”_
> 
> _A faint flush of pink appears on Jared’s cheeks, and he shifts in his seat. “Well, you should have heard how surprised they were when I told them we bought a house. And they did ask if we were moving too fast. So I told them how important you are to me, that we know each other really well, that we’re planning a future together. They know you’re it for me.”_
> 
> _Warmth fills Jensen’s chest. “So they know we’re serious, then? That we’re permanent?”_
> 
> _Jared nods. “Well, after hearing about our dream bond, I hope that’s crystal clear.”_
> 
> _“So really, they’ve already done the inquisition thing. They don’t need to do it again.”_
> 
> _A smile breaks across Jared’s face. “Yeah, and you know what else? I was with Justin for almost a year. In that time, I never took him home to meet the family, and he and I never moved in together. My family only met him the one time they came out to LA to visit me, and I never talked about him the way I talk about you. So they know you’re different.”_
> 
> _Jensen can’t help feeling a bit smug. “That makes sense. Now they’re just watching to make sure you’re happy.”_
> 
> _Jared nods, looking relieved. He takes the cup of coffee from Jensen’s hand and sips, grimacing at the bitterness. “But that still leaves Jeff. He’s trying to be nice to you, but I can tell he still doesn’t buy it.”_
> 
> _Jensen runs his fingers through Jared’s hair. “I think he can tell I’m important to you, so he’s not being a dick about the dream thing. But I bet he’s just sitting back and observing, collecting ‘data’. He’ll make up his mind eventually, and it will be okay. Just wait and see.”_
> 
> _“I just hope he doesn’t decide we need psychiatric help.”_
> 
> _“I doubt that will happen, Jay. If he’s watching us, then all he’ll see is how well we know each other. I meant what I said earlier. You’re not gonna lose him, and it doesn’t matter if he believes our whole story or not. He just has to recognize that, himself.”_
> 
> _Jared frowns again. “I hope so.”_
> 
> _Jensen leans his head on Jared’s shoulder. Even in the dream, he feels full. He sets the coffee down, wondering for a second if it says anything about him that he dreams of coffee._
> 
> _Jared seems to have drifted into a pensive silence, so Jensen tries to perk him up. “I can’t believe your parents thought I was some sort of teenage celebrity,” he says, pouting._
> 
> _It does the trick. Jared bursts out cackling again, his whole body spasming in glee. “Oh my god!” he gasps. “I would have_ SO _been a fanboy for you, Jensen. You could have been this hot, gorgeous teen model, or a singer, or Nickelodeon star, and I would have bought posters of you and notebooks with your picture on them, and I would have drawn little hearts all over them!” He collapses into giggles._
> 
> _Jensen cracks up, shoving at Jared’s shoulder. “Fangirl, more like it. You could give Megan a run for her money, walking around with hearts in your eyes!”_
> 
> _Jared pouts at being compared to his sister. Jensen ignores him. “And you’d have just jerked off to my posters and music videos.”_
> 
> _Jared grins and leans over him. “Now that is a true statement,” he says, brushing his mouth over Jensen’s ear._
> 
> _Jensen shudders and tilts his head to give Jared better access. “So, fangirl, do I match up to your fantasies?”_
> 
> _Jared bites Jensen’s ear and growls. “Not a girl, Jen. Need me to prove it to you?”_
> 
> _Jensen looks over at Jared, sees that his hazel eyes are blown wide and dark with arousal. “Mmm, that’s tempting,” he says, teasing. His jeans are achingly tight across his lap. “You didn’t answer my question. Does the celebrity live up to your expectations?”_
> 
> _Red, gold, blue and orange blur and shift around them, and suddenly they’re not at the park anymore. They’re in their bedroom back home in Los Angeles, sitting on their bed, jackets nowhere to be seen._
> 
> _Jared takes Jensen’s jaw in his hand, his eyes soft and intense. “Stupid question, Jensen.”_
> 
> _Jensen surges forward, bringing their mouths together, groaning when Jared’s tongue slides against his. Jared rolls with Jensen’s motion, leaning back until they’re lying on the bed, Jensen on top, slotting between Jared’s thighs._
> 
> _Hands scrabble at clothing, and Jared helps Jensen pull off his t-shirt. Jensen returns the favor, grinning at the way it tousles Jared’s hair when the shirt pulls over his head. Wanting to mess it up further, Jensen plunges his fingers into the soft strands, bringing their mouths back together, teeth clipping, tongues thrusting. With his other hand, he fingers under the band of Jared’s boxers, searching for his cock._
> 
> _Jared groans when he finds it, shoves his hands down the back of Jensen’s underwear to clutch at his buttocks and pull their groins together._
> 
> _“Yeah, Jen,” Jared gasps around his tongue. “Fuck yeah!”_
> 
> _Jensen shoves his briefs down in front, sucking in a breath as their cocks come into skin-to-skin contact. He wraps his hand around them both, then rocks his hips, forcing them to thrust through the channel of his fingers._
> 
> _Jared’s fingernails dig into Jensen’s ass. Jensen grunts in pleasure and pushes down harder._
> 
> _“Oh fuck!” Jared moans. “Fuck… oh fuck me.”_
> 
> _Something is knocking, and for a long moment, Jensen doesn’t really notice it, thinking it’s the headboard on the wall. He just grips their cocks tighter, rutting again._
> 
> _Knock, knock knock. “Jared?”_
> 
> _The dream fizzles around them when he realizes that it’s a female voice._

Knuckles rapped on the door again, the staccato loud in the quiet. “Jared, I’m gonna open the door now.”

Jensen opened his eyes blearily. It was still dark outside, and he was lying on top of Jared. They had been rutting against each other in their sleep.

A loud gasp came from the doorway. “Oh my god!”

Jensen didn’t even look to see who it was. He just dropped his head down on Jared’s shoulder, mortified, feeling his arousal wilt.

“What is it, Megan?” Jared’s voice was rough with sleep. He reached down and pulled the covers up over Jensen’s shoulders. At least they hadn’t kicked the blankets off entirely. This wasn’t the first time they’d woken up from a shared dream in the middle of sex—they’d woken up while they were outright fucking before, so he supposed it was a good thing they hadn’t got that far in the dream. He hoped she hadn’t got a good look at his ass, he thought as he felt down his side. Good, he still had his underwear on, thankfully.

“Sorry!” Megan sounded embarrassed and excited all at once. “Mom wanted me to tell you that we’re all leaving to go shopping. Do you want to come? There’s great sales.”

Jensen glanced over at the bedside clock. It read 3:47 am. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled and rolled off to the side, burying his face in a pillow.

“I think that’s a no.” Jared shifted onto his side, back to Jensen, blocking him from view, somewhat. “Who’s all going?”

“All of us, except you two, I guess. Dad and Jeff under protest, but the wives won that argument.” She sounded amused.

“Cool. Have fun braving the hordes. Don’t get trampled.”

“That’s why we need you guys! You’re big enough to push through the crowd. But you’re gonna leave Jeff and Dad on their own?”

“Absolutely,” Jared said. Jensen could feel him smirking.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come?”

“We’d rather sleep in. Besides we’ve already got most of our Christmas shopping done already.”

That wasn’t exactly true, but Jensen wasn’t about to correct him. He just wanted to get back to what they were doing, and the longer Megan stood in the door talking to them, the more his dick softened. Hell, he’d settle for just going back to sleep. Only crazy people actually got up this early. And doing it to engage in insane, blatant consumerism was not a good reason, in Jensen’s opinion. No, four AM was a time for sleeping or fucking. Or _sleeping_.

“Do you want us to get anything for you while we’re out?”

“No, we’re good.” Jensen could hear the annoyance creeping into Jared’s voice. “Can’t take a TV home with us on the plane.”

Megan laughed. “True enough. Okay, I’ll let you get back to sleep. We’ll be home probably about lunch time.”

“Okay, have fun!”

“You too!”

Jensen wasn’t looking at her, but he knew she had a leer on her face from the lascivious tone of her voice. She reminded him of Mackenzie so much.

“Get out already, brat!” Jared ordered.

The door shut then, muffling the sound of Megan’s cackle.

They lay there in silence for a moment, Jensen’s face still smashed into the pillow. “I can’t believe she walked in on us,” he grumbled.

The bed shook with Jared’s soft laughter. “I doubt she saw much, but you just totally made her weekend.”

Jensen just grabbed his pillow and whacked Jared across the face with it.

Jared guffawed, and then fought back, rolling on top of Jensen and pinning his hands to the bed.

Jensen glared up at his lover. Sometimes it would be nice to get the upper hand when they wrestled. But ,no, now Jared always won, even when Jensen broke out the tickle fingers or played dirty. Jared still inevitably pinned Jensen’s hands. It never used to be that way—when they were teenagers, Jensen always won. But not anymore, not since Jared hit six-foot-five and adulthood. It was hot as fuck when Jared would physically dominate him while they were having sex, but Jensen still wished he could win a wrestling match every now and then.

Jared’s face softened from triumphant glee to blatant adoration. “Aww, you look so adorable and sleepy and grumpy, Jen.”

“Oh fuck you, you ass,” Jensen griped, no heat to his words.

Jared dropped to his elbows so he could kiss Jensen. “That sounds like a great idea.” He rocked his hips into Jensen’s groin. “Might as well, since we’re awake anyway, and we’ll have an empty house soon. That way you can fuck me and we don’t have to worry about keeping quiet.”

The idea of fucking Jared definitely piqued Jensen’s interest. But Jared was pressing down on his bladder, and Jensen was suddenly aware of just how much he needed to use the bathroom.

“Let me take a rain check on that until after everyone else is gone and after I’ve used the toilet,” Jensen said, tapping on Jared’s wrist.

Jared rolled off to the side. “Okay. You use the bathroom across the hall, and I’ll go use the one upstairs. Everyone will be out the door by then.”

Jensen grinned at him. “Sounds like a plan.”

* * * 

Jensen stood at the sink, blearily brushing his teeth after flushing the toilet. Christ, it was too early to be awake. He wanted to go back to bed, have sleepy sex, and pass out until noon.

The door opened behind him and Jared walked through it. He had a little toothpaste residue on the side of his mouth, and he’d apparently combed his hair. He looked much more awake than Jensen, which Jensen found mildly annoying. His brain grouchily pointed out that it was four in the goddamned morning.

“Everyone’s gone,” Jared said, sidling up behind him, hands sliding around Jensen’s chest, long, hard length of him pressing up against Jensen’s ass. “We should hop in the shower.”

Jensen spit out his mouthful of toothpaste. “Jay, let’s just go back to bed.”

“But I want you to fuck me.”

Jensen turned around to face Jared, raising an eyebrow. “I am going to fuck you.”

Jared frowned like Jensen wasn’t getting it. He dropped his head and his bangs fell over his eyes. “No, that’s not… It’s just… I always wanted you to make love to me in my bed, that bed.” Jared pointed in the direction of his bedroom. “Back when we first started having sex in our dreams, and you wouldn’t top me until I turned seventeen, I used to lie in that bed and fuck myself on my fingers, fantasizing that it was you, your dick in me.”

“Jesus, Jared.” Jensen’s cock throbbed at the thought, quickly hardening again. The image of a teenaged Jared finger-fucking himself, writhing on the bed flashed in Jensen’s mind, and _fuck_ that was hot. Despite his fatigue, he felt his body waking up, interested in what Jared was proposing.

“So I don’t want just a quickie. I want it like it would have been back then if we were really together.”

Jensen got it. Jared wanted something special, not rushed, half-awake sex. Jared could be such a romantic sap sometimes. But Jensen loved that about him. He tilted Jared’s head up, brushing his hair back with his fingers. “Yeah, Jay, I can do that.” He could do _better_ than that, actually. He knew more tricks now than he did when he was nineteen.

Jared smiled shyly at him, a blush on his cheeks. “Yeah?”

Jensen nodded, pushing Jared toward the shower. “We can sleep in till noon after.”

Jared’s dimples flashed as he turned on the faucet. Dropping their boxers, they stepped under the spray. It wasn’t quite hot yet, and the chill washed off the last of Jensen’s sleepiness. His cock was now fully engorged and aching pleasantly at the idea of fucking his boyfriend.

Jared washed his own hair while Jensen spent some time leisurely scrubbing Jared’s back, arms, and ass with a soapy washrag. He stepped up behind Jared, nestling his cock right against Jared’s cleft, and pressed his mouth to Jared’s neck, sucking gentle nips along the cord of muscle there. One hand teased Jared’s nipple and the other dropped down to fondle his balls. Jared was such a fucking turn on.

Jared moaned. “Oh yeah.”

“Mmh-hmm.” Jensen’s hand moved up to grip Jared’s cock firmly, stroking it in time with his rhythmic thrusts against Jared’s backside.

Jared rocked with him for a long moment, then pulled away as he reached for the washrag and soap. “My turn.” Grinning, he returned his hands to Jensen, rubbing the washrag over his skin, paying extra attention to his nipples and cock. Soapy fingers slipped into Jensen’s crack, rubbing around his hole.

Jensen enjoyed the sensation for a moment, then batted Jared’s hand away. “Nuh-uh, Jay, I’m gonna fuck you, remember?”

He turned around and pushed Jared back against the tile, hooking one of Jared’s legs up and around his hip. Reaching between them, Jensen pressed slick fingers behind Jared’s balls and inserted one into Jared’s ass. Jared keened, bucking his hips down onto Jensen’s hand as Jensen brushed up against Jared’s prostate.

“Holy fuck, that feels good.” Jared’s voice was breathy.

Jensen was just about sold on fucking him right there in the shower, splitting Jared open and rocking him up into the tile. But that’s not what Jared wanted. They needed to move this to the bedroom so he could fuck Jared into the mattress.

“Unf, Jen, fuck,” Jared gasped. He grabbed Jensen’s cock, fisting it firmly.

Jensen groaned, knees wobbling a little at the pleasure rushing through him. “Fucker.”

Jared chuckled. “No, I’m the fuck-ee, Jen. Come on, let’s finish up in here and go to bed.”

Jensen took the washcloth from Jared and quickly ran it over the rest of his body, ignoring his throbbing dick. He hastily washed his hair while Jared worked conditioner through his own. Jensen stepped back under the spray to rinse off, and then swapped places with Jared so his boyfriend could do the same.

Jensen pulled Jared’s mouth to his, thrusting his tongue against Jared’s, enjoying the shiver that coursed through Jared when he licked at the roof of his mouth. Jared was such a fucking tease all of the time, so Jensen was going to relish doing a little tormenting of his own.

Finally soap-free, Jared shut off the water, and they both scrambled out of the shower to towel off. Jensen pushed Jared out the door and across the hall. “Get your ass on the bed, Jared.”

Jared climbed onto the mattress, wet towel discarded on the floor, and splayed his legs open, one knee bent. His cock was full and hard, pointing straight up toward his navel. Jensen stopped and ogled him for a moment, because _fucking hell_ , Jared was sexy. Long limbs, lean, muscled form, tan skin, dark nipples peaking slightly… Jensen could remember when Jared was a scrawny, gangly teenager. Now, he was filling out, broadening into an impressive, well-muscled physique that never failed to light Jensen up.

“Do we have the lube out?” He didn’t want to get too far into it and then have to stop to search their luggage.

Jared reached under his pillow and pulled out a small bottle. “Yup. Got it out before I joined you in the bathroom.”

Jensen clambered onto the bed on his knees, shoving Jared’s legs apart. He held out his hand for the lube, and then dropped it on the bed next to Jared’s hips. He slid his hands across Jared’s chest and stomach, brushing lightly over his hipbones.

Jared began to squirm. “Jen,” he whispered. “I’m dying here.”

Jensen gave an evil chuckle. “Not yet, you’re not. I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”

He dropped forward onto his hands and lowered his mouth to Jared’s throat, tonguing along his clavicle. Fuck, Jensen loved the way Jared tasted, the slight salt of sweat beading upon his tongue now that Jared was getting excited. He gave a particularly hard suck to the mole on Jared’s neck, then trailed downward to flick his tongue over Jared’s nipples.

Jared writhed delightfully beneath Jensen, his hips rocking against nothing. “Goddamn, Jen, nnnggh…” He pushed on Jensen’s shoulders, trying to move him down to his groin.

Jensen grinned around a nipple. So impatient. “Not yet, Jare.”

Jared growled in frustration.

“I’m gonna wind you up so good. And then I’m gonna open you up and fuck you long, slow, and hard, just like you want.” Jensen nipped his teeth down over Jared’s hips, licking at the soft skin there.

“Ungh, yes! Please, Jen, I’m wound, fuck.” Jared shoved his hand down to grip his cock.

“Wow, you really are, aren’t you?” Jensen watched for a couple of strokes, the fat head disappearing into Jared’s massive fist, his skin flushing with pleasure. Then he batted Jared’s hand away. “You must _really_ want my cock.”

“Fuck, yes!” Jared groaned and grasped at his cock again.

“No touching yourself,” Jensen ordered, lust washing through him. Jared hadn’t been kidding—this was obviously really important to him, to have Jensen make love to him here. Jensen thought back to those teenage years—he had always insisted on being the bottom until Jared turned seventeen, because he felt like Jared was too young to be fucked before then. Even though he thought Jared to be his imaginary dream lover at the time, something inside of him insisted on waiting until Jared reached seventeen, the legal age of consent. Jared had begged and pleaded for months, but Jensen held out until Jared’s seventeenth birthday.

Since then, in their dreams and since they met in real life, they tended to switch pretty evenly. Jensen loved thrusting into Jared and making him fall apart, and he also loved it when Jared topped, the way he felt moving inside of him. But Jared usually had better control than this. Something about doing this here, in his old bedroom, must really be driving him wild. Jensen was more than happy to fulfill Jared’s fantasy.

He pushed Jared’s arms up above his head. For a second, Jensen entertained the thought of tying Jared up, but they didn’t have a headboard like they did back home, nor did they have anything with which to tie him up. But he knew Jared would do as he was told. As toppy as Jared could get at times, he still submitted beautifully to Jensen when he was on the bottom.

Sure enough, Jared reached his hands up to clutch at the top of the mattress. Jensen grinned wolfishly up at Jared, watching the arousal flush across his face, his hazel eyes dark and riveted on Jensen.

“Good,” Jensen cooed. As a reward, he sucked the head of Jared’s cock into his mouth. A spurt of salty pre-come splashed across his tongue, and Jensen moaned at the taste.

Jared bucked beneath him, then whined when Jensen let his dick fall back against his stomach.

“Goddamned tease! Payback’s a bitch, you know!”

Jensen’s face broke into a wide smile. They were forever in a cycle of retaliation for naughty shenanigans in bed. It was _awesome_. “Promise?” He waggled his eyebrows.

Jared nodded. “Oh yeah. Your ass is mine, Jensen.”

“True facts. Well, then I’d better make it worth it then, hmm?” He licked down the tender skin where Jared’s thigh joined his hip, and lower still until he mouthed at Jared’s balls. The skin flexed and puckered against his tongue, and Jensen hummed in pleasure again as Jared let out a strangled moan.

Jared might complain, but Jensen knew he loved being tormented like this. Hell, this was exactly what Jared wanted—he wanted Jensen to get dominant and toppy and drive him crazy before fucking his brains out.

Luckily for Jared, Jensen was completely on board with that idea.

He pushed Jared’s thighs up and slid a pillow under his hips. Jared seemed to know what was coming next, and he clutched at his legs to hold himself open. “Oh god, yes, Jensen, please…”

Another throb of lust rocked through Jensen. Jared _loved_ this, getting eaten out. He loved doing it to Jensen—and holy _fuck_ he was good at it—but when Jensen rimmed Jared, he went wild, lost all control like Jensen couldn’t believe. It was the sexiest thing Jensen had ever seen.

“Yeah, god, look at you, Jay. You want my tongue so bad, don’t you?”

Jared’s hole clenched and fluttered. “Jensen, please…”

Instead of saying anything further, Jensen swiped his tongue across Jared’s pucker, licking over it with little swirls, circling around the opening without pushing in.

Jared grunted and began rocking his hips. Jensen grinned into Jared’s skin and continued teasing the rim, flicking over it with his tongue. Jared tasted so visceral here, so purely himself. Jensen loved it, loved the way it made Jared fall apart on his tongue. He forced his own hips to stop rocking against the bed. He didn’t want to come before the fucking started.

Jared began babbling nonsense syllables when Jensen worked his tongue into Jared’s hole. Jensen caught random “Jen!” “Fuck!” “God!” and “Damn!” here and there, but mostly it was unintelligible as Jared writhed and shivered.

Jensen fucked Jared with his tongue for a few long minutes, until his mouth and jaw started to ache. Jared was slippery all over, and Jensen’s tongue fit easily into his opening. Jensen fumbled with the lube, slicking up his fingers. He pressed two into Jared, thrusting them in and out while he licked a few last times at Jared’s rim.

“Oh fuck, yes, Jen!” Jared gasped. He pushed onto Jensen’s fingers, riding them.

Jensen got up into a sitting position, fingers still driving into Jared, and he stretched the kink out of his neck. “Hot damn, you look good, Jay.”

“Mmm, you _feel_ good. You gonna fuck me anytime soon?”

Jensen worked in a third finger and rubbed his boyfriend’s prostate. He bit his lip as Jared’s cock twitched violently and Jared bucked.

“Soon enough,” Jensen teased, but really, he had no intention of drawing this out much longer. His balls were starting to ache, he was so turned on.

As he stroked mercilessly against Jared’s prostate with one hand, he slicked up his own cock with the other, so glad they didn’t have to use condoms anymore since they’d both tested STD-free a few months ago. Fucking Jared bare was incredible.

Unable to wait any longer, Jensen lined up and thrust in the moment he withdrew his fingers. “Oh fuck, Jay!” Jared felt so fucking _amazing_ around him, tight, hot, slick.

Jared groaned and wrapped his long legs around Jensen’s waist, his heels pressing on Jensen’s ass to pull him in deeper. They stilled once Jensen was fully seated, gazes locked.

Jensen dropped down to his elbows and licked into Jared’s mouth. Jared returned the kiss eagerly, sucking on Jensen’s tongue. _Fuck_ , that was crazy hot. Jensen moaned his appreciation and began thrusting into Jared, rolling his hips slow and deep.

Jared rocked with him, one hand up in Jensen’s hair and the other at the small of his back. “Yeah, Jen, nngh…” His lips brushed against Jensen’s as his breath hitched.

“This what you wanted, Jay? Me making love to you here, like this?”

Jared’s eyes were dark, thin rings of hazel around wide pupils, and his face broadcasted his every emotion. “Yes, God, yeah, Jen. Fuck, you feel so good!” Jared’s eyes rolled up and closed as his head fell back, his neck arching.

“So do you!” Jensen hooked an elbow under one of Jared’s legs and pressed it up, stretching Jared open further. He shifted his knees on the bed and fucked in harder, this time twisting in at a different angle. _Bingo_.

Jared let out a yelp and writhed. “Oh shit! Oh my god…”

“That the spot, Jay?” Jensen knew it was, but he wanted to hear Jared babble some more. He kept the same angle and steady rhythm, feeling his own orgasm beginning to percolate low in his spine. He wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Oh god, Jensen—yes—oh please, touch me!”

Jensen looked down between them at Jared’s rigid cock. It had oozed out an impressive amount of pre-come from the prostate stimulation Jensen was giving him.

“I wanna watch you. Go on, make yourself come. Let me feel it.”

Jared darted his hand down and squeezed his cock, fisting it firmly. Jensen groaned at the sight of that gorgeous cock disappearing into Jared’s fist, and at the way Jared’s body tightened around him.

“Fucking _hell_ , Jay!” he gasped.

Jared seemed lost inside himself. He swiped his thumb across the head of his dick and pulled at it one, two, three times, and then his body _bowed_ beneath Jensen as he clenched in climax. Jared let out a strangled yowl as he came, splattering across his stomach and Jensen’s chest.

“Oh _Jesus fuck_!” Jensen grunted, hips stuttering. God, he loved this. The rhythmic pulses of Jared’s orgasm around his cock ratcheted up Jensen’s pleasure, pushing him to the crest. Lightning zinged down his legs and up his spine, and Jensen fucked into Jared hard for a few more thrusts, riding out the long waves of his own orgasm.

When Jensen could see again, he found himself lying on top of Jared, and his softened cock slipped out of Jared’s body. Jared was wrapped around him, one hand carding through Jensen’s hair and the other stroking lightly up and down his back. Jensen could hear Jared’s steady heartbeat beneath his ear, gradually slowing.

“Mmm, wow,” Jensen mumbled.

Jared chuckled softly, voice rough. “I second that.”

Jensen lay there for a few more minutes. Jared had always insisted on post-sex cuddling, and now Jensen enjoyed it as much as Jared did.

But eventually the cooling come between them began to itch, and Jensen gently pulled away.

Jared hummed as their bodies separated. “Just grab one of the towels.”

It took a moment for Jensen to coordinate his limbs into movement, but then he picked up a towel off the floor, still damp from their shower. He wiped himself off with it, then used the other side to clean Jared’s stomach and chest.

Jared took the towel from him to finish the job, and then tossed it back on the floor. Jensen wondered for a moment about Jared’s mom washing a towel covered in come, but decided he was too sleepy to care about it for now. They could do laundry later.

Jared curled around Jensen, rolling them into a spooning position. He pressed a wet kiss to Jensen’s neck.

Jensen twisted his head around for a real kiss, a lazy brush of tongues. “Mmm, how long until everyone gets back from shopping?” he asked as he settled back down in Jared’s arms.

Jared pulled the sheet over them both. “Lunch time, probably. All the best sales are before noon.”

“Good, so we can sleep in undisturbed.”

He felt Jared nod against his neck. “Yeah,” Jared whispered.

There was a long moment of silence, during which Jensen felt himself drifting to sleep. Then Jared squeezed him gently. “Thank you, Jensen.”

Jensen smiled. “Hmm, you’re _very_ welcome.”

“Not just for the sex, though that was _awesome_. But for everything else, coming home with me, talking to my family, putting up with Jeff and Megan.”

Jensen rolled onto his back so he could look Jared in the eyes. “Of course I was gonna come here with you. I love you, and they’re your family. You and me, this is a big deal. I wasn’t about to let you tell them about us without me.”

Jared kissed Jensen again, firmly, adoration in his lips. “I love you, you know?”

Jensen smirked. “Is that what that is? I did not know that! That explains _so_ much!”

Jared sniggered, then buried his face in Jensen’s shoulder. “Fucker.”

Jensen grinned as he shifted back onto his side. “You got that right, fuck-ee.”

Jared just kissed the knob of Jensen’s neck.

A few breaths later, Jensen was asleep.

* * *

“Seriously, bowling?” Jensen asked as they walked through the parking lot towards the bowling alley on Saturday afternoon.

They’d been lazy on Friday after they finally woke up. They spent the afternoon visiting their park, and Jared showed Jensen his high school, but the rest of the day was occupied with hanging out with the Padaleckis. Well, Sherri, Gerry, and Megan, off and on. Jeff and Heather had spent Friday with Heather’s family, and Megan holed up in her room with school work for a while. Jensen had done some reading for school himself while Jared munched on leftovers—he finished off the yams singlehandedly—and then helped his dad with some work in the garage. True to his word, Jared also found Sherri’s stash of gummi bears and shared them with Jensen.

Now, the whole family was out together for an afternoon of bowling. Jeff had been friendly with the both of them so far today, and Jared seemed to be relaxing a bit around his brother, not quite so worried. Jensen was relieved to see it, and he hoped this family outing would lead to further reconciliation between them.

“Yup! Bowling!” Jared beamed at him.

Jensen wracked his brain, trying to remember if Jared had ever mentioned bowling before. Certainly, it hadn’t come up in the last few years. But then, thinking _way_ back, he recalled Jared talking about going bowling with his family, mentioning that he got a new ball, being really excited when he beat Jeff. Somehow, Jensen still hadn’t put all of that together to realize that bowling was such a big family activity for the Padaleckis. No, he’d just figured it was something they did periodically, casually.

Jensen smirked to himself. When they’d shared dreams as teenagers, they talked more about each other, their friends, school. When it came to discussion of families, they always ended up talking more about Jensen’s family than Jared’s, because Jared’s family was more supportive than Jensen’s by far. And then there were the dreams where they spent more time screwing each other’s brains out than talking. Those were fun.

“What?” Jared asked when he saw the look on Jensen’s face.

“Just surprised that I learned something new about you today.”

Jared adjusted the bags of bowling equipment in his hands and beamed. “I’m pretty sure I mentioned it at least once or twice.”

“Yeah, you did, but not that you guys bowled so much that you all have your own balls and shoes.”

Jared snorted. “I have a ball and shoes at home, you know.”

Opening the door to the bowling alley for his boyfriend, Jensen gaped at him, incredulous. “No, I did _not_ know that. You and I have never gone bowling.”

Jared shrugged. “We’ll have to remedy that, then. Get you your own ball and shoes so you don’t have to use the alley equipment.” He gestured to the counter where a greasy looking man stood, spraying disinfectant into scuffed shoes with frayed laces.

“Yeah, I see your point,” he said, stepping up to the counter to check out a pair of shoes as Jared continued toward the lanes where the rest of the Padaleckis were setting up. Orange and white shoes in hand, Jensen joined Jared down by the two lanes the family was using.

Jared snickered when he saw the hideous shoes. “I haven’t really bowled in a while, now that I think of it,” he said, continuing their conversation. “It was always something I did with my family, and once I got out to LA, school kept me really busy. And then Justin didn’t care too much for it.” Jared shot him a smile as he tied up his shoes, dark blue and cream. “I think that was because he sucked at it and didn’t like losing to me all the time.”

Jensen laughed, tying his own shoes. “You’ll probably kick my butt, too. I haven’t bowled since junior high, and I never was all that good at it.”

“Well then, we’ll have to get you trained up.” Jared winked at him.

Heather sat down next to Jensen. “Don’t worry, I can’t bowl worth crap, either. Jeff keeps trying to teach me, but the only times I ever score over a hundred are when the gutter guards are up.” She didn’t appear upset about her less than stellar bowling skills.

Jensen shrugged. He’d do better than that, surely. He wasn’t very good, but he didn’t suck, either. “You gonna play?” he asked her, curious.

“Oh, hell no. I suck when I’m not pregnant. Pregnant, there’s no way I could keep my balance. And my back hurts enough as it is. I’ll just be the cheering section.” She raised her arms up into a cheerleading pose. “Go big J!”

Jensen grinned. “Good. It looks like I’ll need all the support I can get, if they’re all as good as they’re boasting.”

Heather leaned in toward him, conspiratorially. “The guys love to brag and boast, make a big show of it, but Sherri’s the one you have to worry about.”

Jensen looked over to where Sherri was putting their names into the scoring machine. “Really?”

Heather nodded. “Just watch her.”

“Well, Jensen,” Gerry interrupted. “We brought two spare balls from when Jeff and Jared were teenagers; you’re welcome to try them out. Hopefully one of them works. Or, if anyone else’s ball fits you, we’ll share. Otherwise, you’ll have to try your luck with an alley ball.”

“Alright, thanks,” Jensen said.

Heather patted his shoulder as he got up. Smiling, he walked over to where Jared was lining up balls on the return cradle.

“These the spares?” Jensen asked.

Jared nodded, pointing to a red ball and a marbled green ball. “Yeah.”

Jensen tried the finger holes on the red ball. They were spaced too far apart for his hand to fit very well, so it was probably Jeff’s old ball. Frowning, he tried the green one, his fingers slotting right down into the holes in a near perfect fit. Jensen raised his eyebrow when he looked at the color more closely. The marbling of the ball was nearly the exact same color as Jensen’s eyes, green with gold flecks.

“This one is mine.” Jared pointed to a swirly turquoise ball. “It’s weighted, so it hooks—” he moved his hand in an arc, illustrating how the ball would curve “—and I doubt it would fit your grip. I had this one made in high school. It’s actually a bit light for me now, but my other ball is at home, and it will still work better than an alley ball. That one,” he pointed to the ball in Jensen’s hand, “I used in junior high. It isn’t weighted, so it rolls straight, and it was made before a big growth spurt, so I figured it might fit your hand.”

“It does fit.” Jensen picked up the ball, feeling the weight of it. Looking over at his boyfriend, he noticed that Jared had a faint blush on his cheeks. “Interesting color, Jay.”

“I thought so.”

“Wonder where you got the inspiration for it.”

Jared’s eyes sparkled. “It’s a mystery.”

“Unsolvable.”

“Exactly.” Jared winked at him, dimples on full display, and Jensen couldn’t help but break into a grin himself.

He turned around to see Jeff watching them with a curious expression on his face. When he realized he’d been caught looking, Jeff came up next to them and plunked an indigo and crimson ball on the ball return. It was engraved with the initials _JRP_. Jensen idly wondered what the R stood for.

Gerry joined them, placing down a silver ball. “Does that one work for you?” He gestured to the green ball in Jensen’s hand.

“Yeah, I think it will.” He looked down at the JTP engraved on the ball and smiled.

“Good! Okay gang, are we ready?”

Megan set down a vibrant blue and purple ball. “Yup!”

Sherry placed the last ball on the cradle, shiny black, speckled with glitter and the initials _SVP_ engraved on it. “Jensen, Jared, you’re with me on this lane. Gerald, Jeff, and Megan, you’re on that lane.” She pointed to the lane to the right of the ball return conveyer. “May the best Padalecki win!”

“Hey, what about me?” Jensen griped good-naturedly.

“You’re pretty much part of the family now, too,” Megan said, hand on her hips and looking at Jensen like she couldn’t believe how clueless he was being. “So until it’s official, you’re an honorary Padalecki.”

Jensen was a little taken aback by that. “Oh, wow. Thanks.”

A loud whoop to Jensen’s left made him turn around. Jeff had hurled his bowling ball down the lane with incredible force, and it blasted through the pins, sending all ten of them scattering.

“Yeah, baby! Strike!” he hollered, arms raised in triumph. “I’mma kick your ass, runt!” he goaded, pointing at Jared.

Next to Jensen, Jared perked up gleefully at his brother’s taunt. “You’re on, lurch!” He hefted his green-blue ball and lined himself up for his throw.

Still entertained at the notion of anyone calling Jared a “runt,” Jensen watched his boyfriend release his ball down the lane, squatting low with his right leg stretched out behind his left. The ball curved close to the gutter and then arched back to the center, knocking down every pin.

Jared leaped into the air, cheering. He stuck out his tongue at his brother.

Gerry chuckled next to Jensen, rolling his eyes. “I recall this exact scene back when Jared was here for his thirteenth birthday.”

“Yeah? Who won?” Jensen asked. He was really enjoying seeing Jared interacting with his family. It was a side of him that Jensen hadn’t really seen before, and it amused him to no end how Jared and Jeff seemed to revert to being thirteen year old boys around each other. And the fact that they _were_ able to play like this… Jensen nodded to himself, pleased. It was just a matter of time before Jeff made things good from their earlier argument.

“Jared did. Jeff beat him most every game until Jared was about sixteen, but on that day, Jared won.”

Huh. Jensen looked over at Jeff and cracked up when he saw that Jeff and Jared were in the middle of dramatic posturing, comparing muscles and striking body-builder poses. Jeff might be taller by a couple of inches, but Jared was definitely broader across the chest and shoulders, more muscled. All his time at the gym was paying off beautifully. Jeff was also muscled, but he was leaner, less bulky. Jensen figured they were fairly evenly matched. Jared certainly always came out on top whenever he and Jensen wrestled.

Not that he expected Jared and Jeff to get into a wrestling match or anything.

“Alright, _children_ ,” Gerry said, his voice simultaneously one of long-suffering patience and indulgence. “You’re blocking the lane. Don’t make me forcibly move you.”

Jared and Jeff immediately sported identical sheepish grins, and Jensen couldn’t help but laugh as they scurried to their seats, Jared sliding across the polished wood floor a la Tom Cruise.

Jared pinched him as he passed, waggling his eyebrows.

Gerry chuckled again, hefting his ball from the return. “Just play your best Jensen. Jeff and Jay might compete good-naturedly, but really we’re all here just to have a good time, and we can’t do that if we get too serious about the score. So just have fun.”

And then Gerry flung his ball down the lane, with perfect form, and knocked down nine pins.

“Aw, shoot!” came Jeff’s voice. “You can still get a spare, Dad!”

Tuning out the noise around him, Jensen lifted his green-gold ball and tried to make his body remember the movements. He lined up and made his approach, throwing his ball straight down the center of the lane. The ball drifted to the left, just a little, and took down most of the pins. Jensen looked up at the score display—eight down. Not bad for the first time since junior high.

“Woo hoo! Go Jensen!”

Jensen turned around, blushing as Jared and Heather cheered him on.

“Hey, why aren’t you rooting for me?” Jeff asked his wife.

“Aw baby, you’re so good you don’t need it,” she replied.

“His big head doesn’t need any more inflating, Heather,” Jared snarked. “He’ll topple over from the weight of it. And that’s a _loooong_ way to fall.”

Faster than Jensen could blink, Jeff had Jared in a headlock and was rubbing his knuckles on the top of Jared’s scalp.

Jensen started to worry that this might turn from playful fun to something more serious, but then Jeff let out a yelp and let go of Jared, laughing. Jared stood up, face flushed, looking smugly triumphant as he ran his hands through his hair.

“Knock it off, you two,” Sherri scolded, amused. “Don’t make me separate you like naughty kids.”

Jeff and Jared again sported matching sheepish grins. Jensen snorted.

He turned back to the ball return conveyer, which had spat his green-gold ball back out. He picked it up, feeling his fingers drop right into place in Jared’s old ball, and lined up for his second throw. The two pins still standing were on the right, and he took aim, throwing his ball down the lane.

He hit one of the pins squarely, toppling it, but the other remained standing. Nine, not too bad. Looking up at the score board, he saw that Gerry had made his spare.

Jensen returned to the bench and sat down next to Jared, who gave him a hug. “You did awesome!”

“Thanks!” Considering that this wasn’t something he did very often, Jensen was pleased. He’d have to bowl more often now that he knew it was one of Jared’s favorite activities. With a little practice, he’d be able to keep up with his boyfriend just fine.

Next to Jared, Heather motioned at Jensen, pointing back at the lane. In front of them, Sherri was taking her turn. She seemed to dance through her approach, her motion graceful and precise. When she threw her black ball, it hurtled down the lane much faster than Jensen expected and curved perfectly, knocking down all ten pins. Strike.

“Yeah, Mom!” Jared shouted next to him.

“Wow,” Jensen mouthed at Heather.

She nodded in a “See? Told you,” manner.

In the lane next to them, Megan also scored a spare and jumped into the air, cheering.

Jared got up for his turn, and Megan slid across the wood to drop into his vacated seat. She looked up at Jensen, a nervous expression on her face.

Curious, Jensen just looked back at her. “What?”

“I read your book.”

Jensen was taken aback. She’d only mentioned that she wanted to read it the other night, and he hadn’t really expected her to actually read it. Certainly not right away. “Really? When did you do that?”

“I got it while we were shopping yesterday. Was surprised they even had it in stock; I was worried I’d have to have it delivered. But I started reading it when I got home and you guys were out, and I stayed up late last night finishing it. I couldn’t put it down.”

“Oh, can I borrow it now that you’re done?” Heather asked, an eager look on her face.

Megan nodded. “Sure!”

An odd feeling washed over Jensen as he looked from Megan to Heather and back, the same one that he always got when someone talked about his book—a mixture of awed disbelief, anticipation, fear of rejection, humbleness and pride, and mortification over the sexual content of the story. He felt his face heat up. “Oh, wow. What did you think?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“You really wrote that?” she asked, her brown eyes wide.

He nodded, a small smile creeping onto his face. “Yes. I didn’t have a ghost writer or anything.”

Megan’s face split into a huge grin. She had dimples, just like Jared. “Wow. It was _amazing_ , Jensen. I loved it.”

“Really?” It still astonished him when people actually liked his book. He didn’t _feel_ like an award winning author. He was just a college kid from Texas.

Megan nodded. “It was really good.” Her voice was serious now, not at all like a bubbly, teenaged fangirl. “I totally understand why it won an award.”

“Your turn, Jen!” Jared interrupted their conversation, sliding over to stand in front of where they were sitting.

Jensen looked up at the score board. He had totally missed Jared’s frame. He’d gotten a spare, Jeff a nine.

“I’m totally gonna beat Jeff now.” Jared pumped his fist.

“We’ve only just got started, runt,” Jeff snarked from the next bench over where he was sitting with Gerry. He pointed a finger at Jared. “Just wait.”

Jared stuck his tongue out at Jeff again.

“Do they always do this when they get together?” Jensen stage whispered to Megan.

“What, revert back to pre-teens? Absolutely.”

Jared threw Megan a scowl. “You’re in my seat, brat.”

Megan sniggered. “And he proves my point.”

Jensen laughed and stood up. “Here, Jay, have mine.” He dodged Jared’s hand that was reaching out to grab his ass, shooting Jared a glare. Megan cackled at them when Jared pouted over being denied his grope.

Jensen collected his ball and lined up on the lane. Two throws and a whopping six points later, Jensen was scowling. He had thought he was doing okay for not having played in years. Obviously he’d been lucky on his first frame. He resolved again to practice more.

When he stepped off the raised wooden floor, Jared met him with a high five. “Good job!”

Jensen raised an eyebrow at him. “I only got six, Jay.”

“So? That’s better than half! And you haven’t played in like ten years, so six is awesome!”

Jensen shrugged. “Ah, good point. I just have this thing where I don’t like being incompetent, so I’m a little annoyed at myself. So you and I are going to start bowling on a regular basis when we get back home. You can help me perfect my form.”

Jared waggled his eyebrows. “That sounds like a great plan!”

Behind him, Sherri bowled another strike, and Jensen watched as Gerry congratulated his wife with a smooch. In the next lane, Megan got another spare. “Your turn, Jared,” Sherri called from the scoring table.

Jared looked over at his mother. “Just a minute, Mom.” He snatched a quick kiss from Jensen. “Need the good luck if I’m gonna beat my brother.”

Jensen grinned, feeling content. “Haha, of course. Go kick Jeff’s ass.”

Jared’s face lit up with mischievous glee. He squeezed Jensen’s shoulders and vaulted up onto the wooden floor, sliding over to the ball return with a whoop.

Jensen turned back around to see Heather and Megan sitting next to each other, both of them having watched his little conversation intently. Megan was once again wearing hearts in her eyes. Heather was simply beaming. “Aw, you two are _adorable_!”

Jensen felt his face heat up. “Shuddup,” he scowled, but a smile forced its way through.

“You know, I can really see it now,” Megan said, her face returning from love-struck land.

“What’s that?” Jensen asked.

“You said that you based Jason on Jared, right?”

Jensen nodded.

“I can really see it. And it’s not how playful Jason is, not really. It’s how he can be playful at times but is serious and supportive and there when you need him. That’s _totally_ just like Jared.”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. The details of their lives are different, but deep down, their personalities are very similar.”

“So Jason was based on Jared. What about Jon? Was he based on you?”

Jensen bit his lip, thinking of how best to answer that question. “Well, in some ways, yes, and in a lot of other ways, no. Really, every character you write has some element of you in them, even the characters that you deliberately make very different from yourself. Jon was based a lot less on my personality than Jason was based on Jared’s. But some of the things that happened to him were similar to the events in my life.”

“You mean how his parents rejected him?” Megan asked, and then she put her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, that was really insensitive of me.”

Jensen frowned. The deep pang of hurt in his heart would probably always be there. But it wasn’t Megan’s fault, and he’d answered this question before, to his publishers, Danneel, his friend and rep at the publishers, Sera, his editor, and various other interviewers. He’d even talked about it when he accepted his Lambda.

“It’s okay, Megan. A lot of artists and writers use the pain in their lives to create something, to inspire their stories, their music, their paintings. Look at the work Jared did back when he was being called names in high school. He used his pain and turned it into art. In that sense, the creative process is often a form of self-therapy. This book was that for me.

“My parents rejected me when they found out I was gay. They kicked me out of the house, and I haven’t talked to either of them since then. I was a senior in high school, barely eighteen. It was a good thing, too, because they would have sent me to a religious camp to turn me straight if they could have forced me to go. When I was writing Jon, I used what happened to me as inspiration, but I didn’t duplicate the events. Jon’s parents didn’t kick him out, but they forced him and Jason apart. The truly therapeutic part of the story for me, though, was when Jason and Jon found each other again as adults, in spite of Jon’s parents’ machinations. It was important to me to write a story about accepting yourself and how true love conquers all. Guess I needed that hope in my life.”

“You guys are really spoiling the book for me, you know?” Heather pouted.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Megan said. “No more details, Jensen. She has to read for herself how it all works out!”

Jensen and Heather both chuckled when Megan reached out and put her hand over Jensen’s mouth.

“I’ll just say one more thing,” Megan said, removing her hand. “With everything you put Jon and Jason through, you made me ache and cry and then shout with joy and hurt in all the best ways. It was really inspirational, and I loved every part of it.”

“Even the sexy parts?” Jensen asked, teasing.

Megan blushed. “Especially the sexy parts. _God_ , Jensen. I know I should feel weirded out because Jason is based on Jared, but _damn_ , those were hot scenes.” She fanned her face dramatically.

Jensen felt himself blushing. He’d honestly not expected that from her. He’d figured she’d be grossed out by the gay sex and skip right over those parts. Not that she’d find them _hot_.

Heather burst out laughing again. “Alright, Megan, I’m _definitely_ getting that book from you when we get back. I’ve gotta read this for myself.”

“Oh god,” Jensen groaned, putting his face in his hands. “Seriously?” He peeked through his fingers at the two women who were grinning at him like loons.

“Seriously what?” Jared said, joining them.

Jensen just shook his head. Megan and Heather just hooted louder.

“Seriously, _what_?” Jared asked again. “Are you torturing my boyfriend? Is that why he looks all red and awkward?”

Megan giggled.

“No, Jay,” Jensen said, dropping his hands. “They’re just going on about how they want to read the _hot_ sex scenes in my book.”

Jared’s faced morphed from amused, to confused, to grossed out, to embarrassed. It was so hilarious that Jensen guffawed. “I know, right?”

“You ladies are _perverts_.” Jared scowled.

“Hey, I’m pregnant, I got an excuse,” Heather retorted. “I’m horny all the time. Just ask Jeff.”

“What about horny?” Jeff piped up from the other lane, his face bright and interested.

“Oh nothing, honey,” Heather sing-songed. “Just talking about the side effects of pregnancy.”

“Oh. Yeah. That part is awesome.” Jeff winked at his wife.

Jared screeched as Heather winked back. “Oh god, too much information about my brother’s sex life!”

Megan got a wicked look on her face, and Jensen knew she was going for the kill.

“And I’m no pervert, either, Jared. I’m just a typical hormonal teenager with sex on the brain. So yeah, I definitely like hot sex scenes regardless of who’s in them.”

“MEGAN! NO! You’re supposed to stay my virginal, innocent little sister forever!” Jared covered his ears and shut his eyes. “La la la la LAAAA!”

Megan let out a truly evil cackle, and Jensen just snickered. Jared could be so melodramatic sometimes.

“Alright, Jen, I’m rescuing you from the clutches of these evil women,” Jared said, looking desperately serious. “It’s your turn. Go now, while I’ve got you covered. Run, Jensen, run!” Jared shoved him toward the wooden floor, and Jensen nearly tripped over it, he was laughing so hard.

Sherri gave him a wide grin as he approached the ball return. “You having a good time, Jensen?”

Jensen wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. “Yeah, Sherri, I am.” And it was the truth. He really was starting to feel more a part of the family.

“Good!” Sherri beamed at him. “Want a pointer or two?” She gestured toward his ball.

“Sure.” Jensen nodded. If he was going to learn to play better, tips from someone as good as Sherri would definitely help. Whenever he learned a new activity, he practiced and practiced until he was good at it. Jensen supposed it had something to do with always trying (and failing) to be good enough for his father’s approval. But it was that drive that had pushed him to write books, to continue his education through his Ph.D. It was that drive that had pushed him to learn how to play the guitar well when Chris first started teaching him. It was why he played pool on the billiard table in Chris’s basement day after day after day until he was fucking _good_. So he knew that he and Jared would be working as much bowling as possible into their limited free time over the next little while. He was looking forward to it.

Sherri spent a few minutes talking to him about rolling his wrist to get the ball to curve, or hook, and how to line up on the arrows if he was going to hook the ball versus if he was going to throw it straight.

He lined up for his first throw, and knocked down seven pins, leaving two in one corner and one in the opposite corner still standing.

“Good!” Sherri said from where she was watching his form. “If you control your arm motion better, be sure to hold the follow through, you’ll have better accuracy. Your arm might get tired after a while. If that happens, just stretch it out.” She looked down the lane to see how he’d scored. “Oh shoot. Now you have a split. Those are _very_ difficult, even for really good players. Your best bet is to go for the two pins, and if you’re really lucky, you’ll kick one pin out enough to knock down the third on the other side. But that would be a long shot, even for me. So if you want to take those two pins down, roll the ball straight and line it up about here.” She pointed at the arrow closer to the side of the lane.

“Alright,” Jensen said as he collected his ball from the return. He lined up, focused on the movement of his arm and the crouch in his legs, and released the ball down the lane. It curved a little more than he had planned, but it still knocked down both pins on the right side. Nine. Jensen grinned. Not bad at all.

“Good job!” Sherri praised him as the lane reset with ten new pins. “You’ve got good form, Jensen. You just need practice to develop more consistency.”

Jensen felt a rush of affection toward her. “Thanks, Sherri.”

She patted him on the shoulder. “You’re quite welcome, Jensen.” She turned back toward the lane and proceeded to roll another strike. Shit, that was three in a row. Wow.

Sherri turned around, eyes sparkling. “Tell Jared it’s his turn, will you?”

When Jensen got back over to the bench, he found Jared on the next bench over, the one for the lane that Jeff and Gerry were playing on. He was sitting next to his brother, and they were both pouting.

“What happened?” Jensen asked.

“Heather banished me.”

“What?” Jensen huffed out at the hang-dog expression on Jared’s face. He looked over at Heather for explanation.

She just smiled. “Yup, I did. I said, ‘Jared, I banish thee! Get thee to thy brother’s bench!’”

“Why?”

“Because they were shit-talking each other again, acting like kids,” Megan supplied. “It was interfering with our conversation about your book.”

“You mean it was interfering with your conversation about _sex_ ,” Jared corrected, indignation all over his face.

Jensen felt like he hadn’t laughed so much since before they’d gotten on the plane to come here. “It’s your turn, Jay.”

Jared got up, gave Heather and Megan an impressively childish face, complete with cross-eyes and pointed tongue, and stomped over to his lane.

Jensen just watched him go, and knew he probably looked completely love-struck at the moment. God, Jared made him so incredibly _stupid_ sometimes.

Heather chuckled, waking Jensen up out of his reverie.

“What?” Jensen felt a blush creep onto his face.

“Oh, nothing.” She just smirked knowingly at him.

“So, I know this is going to sound incredibly fangirly,” Megan said, “but when we get home, will you sign your book for me?”

Jensen blinked at her, surprised. “Oh, um, sure.”

“Yay!” She clapped her hands. “Oh, it’s my turn!” She bounced up and hopped over to the other lane.

Jensen sat down next to Heather again, feeling a sort of camaraderie with her. She was also an outsider, someone who’d joined the Padalecki family. “This family is pretty crazy, huh?”

She looked over at him, scrutinizing his face. After a moment, she nodded. “Yeah, they are, but it’s the best kind of crazy, you know? They’re a great family to marry into.”

Jensen watched Jared, who was palming his bowling ball and pointing it at Jeff as they trash-talked to each other.

“Yeah, I think so, too.” He knew what she meant, even if he and Jared couldn’t marry, not technically. But they might as well be married, given their life-long relationship.

“So, you really wrote your book before you and Jared met in person?” Heather asked.

Jensen frowned at the change of topic. He didn’t want to get into another round of justifying his relationship with Jared. “Yes.”

Heather put her hands up and smiled. “I’m just curious. I don’t mean to say that I don’t believe you, because it’s not up to me to validate your relationship. You guys are obviously very _real_. I’m just sort of… fascinated. It’s such a romantic story.”

Megan skidded back over and joined them again, having just scored a strike. “What’s romantic? Jared and Jensen’s story?”

Heather nodded.

Jensen let his muscles relax. “It seems a lot like a fairytale or romantic comedy plot, doesn’t it? I never imagined I’d find myself in a Meg Ryan movie, but that’s how it is. Plus, Jared… has this ridiculous romantic streak.”

Megan giggled. “Oh my god, that is _so_ cute!”

Jensen rolled his eyes and brought the conversation back to the book. “Yeah, back when I was writing that book, Jared was just the guy in my dreams. Well, he was a lot _more_ than that, but I never thought he was a _real_ person. So when I was writing Jason’s character, Jared just flowed into him. I wrote that story my senior year of college, and then rewrote it for publication in grad school. It was released late last year. I didn’t meet Jared in person until just before I finished my Master’s, in the middle of Jared’s spring quarter after the book had already been published.”

“That’s amazing. And you’d been dreaming together since you were what… fifteen or so?” Heather didn’t look dismissive, just interested.

“Thereabouts, not counting the summer when I was eleven and Jared turned nine.”

“Wow. That’s pretty amazing, Jensen. You guys are really lucky to have such a deep connection like that.”

Out on the lane, Jared rolled a spare and lifted his arms in triumph.

Yeah, that was pretty much how Jensen felt about Jared in general. “Thanks, I think so, too.”

* * *

The interior of the bar was dim when they walked in. It wasn’t very crowded, and the few people there appeared to be a mix of college-age kids and older regulars, watching the various televisions mounted around the bar area. It was like any other sports bar in Texas: alcohol and cigarette smoke, video games along one wall, pool tables in the back, jukebox full of country and rock music.

“I’ll get us a pool table,” Jeff said and headed straight for the back of the bar where the tables stood. Jensen watched him go, biting his lip. After Sherri tromped them all at bowling, she suggested that the boys do something together that evening. It was supposed to be a guy’s night out, just the three of them, so Jeff and Jensen could get to know each other better. Despite being sure that Jeff would come around eventually, Jensen was a touch nervous—Jeff had been friendly but distant with him since the scene in the kitchen on Thursday. Jensen wasn’t looking forward to being grilled on their dream connection.

Beside him, Jared took off his jacket. “Great! I’m gonna hit the bathroom. Jensen, will you get us some beer?” Jared patted Jensen discreetly on the ass.

Jensen glared at his boyfriend. This was Texas; it was not wise to go around making it obvious that you were anything other than straight.

Jared just shrugged at him, dimples showing.

“Alright. Any preference on the beer?” Jensen asked.

“As long as it’s cold and wet and _beer_ , I don’t care.” Jared winked, heading off toward the bathroom.

Jensen chuckled to himself. He made his way to an empty stretch of the bar and stood there patiently while he waited for the bartender to finish up with another customer.

“Hey, haven’t seen you around here before,” came a voice to Jensen’s left.

Turning to the side, Jensen saw a handsome guy, blonde hair, blue eyes, broad shoulders, a couple of inches shorter than Jensen. The guy had sidled up next to Jensen at the bar and was giving him a polite smile, reserved but interested. Jensen was getting a bit of a gay vibe from him, but there wasn’t anything obvious about it. What were the odds of running into another gay guy here?

“That’s because I’m not from around here. Visiting family.”

The guy’s face brightened. “You sure sound like you’re from Texas.”

Jensen nodded. His accent, softened somewhat from his time in LA, always came back stronger whenever he was back in Texas. “Dallas, originally, but I’ve been out in California for a while.”

“Wow, how’s that? I’ve never been out of Texas, myself, but I always wanted to travel.” The guy leaned over the bar, propping his head on his hand, looking very fascinated with what Jensen had to say. His blue eyes glinted as he looked down Jensen’s body and back up to his face.

“California’s really nice,” Jensen said, a little discomfited. He didn’t want to give this guy the wrong idea, but he didn’t want to be rude, either. “Sunny, great beaches, lots of interesting people.”

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked, interrupting their conversation.

“Pitcher of Sam Adams, please, with three glasses,” Jensen replied, pleased with the diversion.

The bartender, a guy in his fifties with two-day salt-and-pepper stubble, nodded, and then looked at the guy next to Jensen. “Anything for you, Derek?”

“I’ll take another Bud here in a minute, Rob,” Derek said.

Rob nodded and went off to the taps to get Jensen’s order. This must be Derek’s usual bar, Jensen mused, if the bartender knew him by name.

“You here with someone?” Derek asked quietly when Rob was out of earshot, moving a bit closer to Jensen, his eyes covetous. Jensen could smell the alcohol on his breath from here, and wondered how many drinks the guy’d had already.

Christ. There weren’t any gay bars in New Braunfels, but he hadn’t been here three minutes and already he was getting hit on? Jensen forced himself not to roll his eyes. A year ago, before he met Jared, he might have taken Derek up on his offer. The guy was pleasing enough to look at, a broad, strong body that looked like it had just a little padding on top of what used to be quite athletic. Jared’d had a few relationships before he and Jensen met, but Jensen had not been able to stomach anything committed with anyone not Jared, so his sex life had been limited to scattered random hookups, at least until he started getting together periodically with Steve. But now that he knew Jared was real and they were together for good, he had absolutely zero interest in sex with anyone else. No matter how friendly or attractive the guy was.

“Yeah, I’m here with someone.” Jensen hoped Derek would get the double meaning. He wondered why the guy was risking flirting with him so conspicuously like this. If Jensen was a typical straight Texas guy, Derek would be inviting ridicule at the least, maybe even a beating.

“So who’s the third glass for?” Derek inched closer to Jensen, definitely encroaching on his personal space boundaries now.

Jensen stepped backwards, annoyed. “Family. Look, dude…”

“Here you go, that’s ten-fifty.” The bartender set down a pitcher of beer and three glasses stacked inside each other.

Jensen dug out his wallet and slapped a few bills down on the bar, leaving enough for a tip. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem. Just wave if you want another one.” Rob walked down toward the cash register at the other end of the bar.

“I’m gonna go sit down with my friends. It was nice to meet you.” Jensen picked up the beer and glasses and walked away from the bar, hoping he was sending enough “go away” signals for Derek to get the message.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Derek caught up to Jensen a few feet away, swinging in front of him and stopping as close to Jensen as he could manage, given that Jensen kept the beer between them.

Jensen glared at him square in the eyes, straightening his back. “Yes, actually. I’m here with someone and I’m not interested—”

“Jensen, who’s your friend?” Jared’s hand pressed against the small of Jensen’s back briefly, and then he came to stand next to Jensen. Looking at Jared’s face, it was clear that he’d noticed Jensen’s discomfort.

Derek’s face transformed into one of confusion, then his eyes widened and his face blanched. “Padalecki?”

Jared stiffened. “Seyler?”

“Jesus, Padalecki, you ever gonna stop growing? You weren’t this tall in high school.”

“You two know each other?” Jensen asked, looking back and forth between his boyfriend and Derek, who seemed to be shrinking a little.

“You could say that.” Jared’s face had morphed into an angry scowl. He straightened up, folding his arms across his chest as he looked down at Derek. “This is Derek Seyler, the kid who led the crusade against me all through high school.”

Jensen recognized the name, now. Jared had talked with him at length about the kids in high school who tormented and ostracized him for being gay, and Derek Seyler was at the top of the list. Derek was a popular jock on the football team, and would have regularly pummeled Jared with his other jock friends if Chad hadn’t been around. Jensen was suddenly filled with the urge to dump the pitcher of beer he was carrying over Derek’s head and then put his fist in his face. “Oh, _really_?”

Derek looked like he was torn between standing his ground and running away. He shifted on his feet, looking back and forth between Jensen and Jared, and then a mulish look came over his face. “What did you expect? High school is about fitting in, and you were queer as a three dollar bill.” He swallowed the last of his beer and set the glass on an empty table. “You still a homo?”

Jensen goggled at Derek. The guy had just been flirting blatantly (and clumsily, for that matter) with him, and now he had the balls to call Jared a homo? Furthermore, Jensen knew he was exaggerating—Jared was never flamboyant or flaming, particularly in high school, not even after he was outed. Jensen set the beer and glasses down on the empty table next to them, caught Jeff’s eyes across the room, and gave him a wave. They might need reinforcements if Derek continued to be a prick.

Jared was clearly not amused, but he ignored Derek, turning instead to look at Jensen. “Jensen, was he bothering you?”

“He was trying to invite himself to join me,” Jensen said, giving Jared a _look_ , quick lift of an eyebrow.

Jared’s mouth fell open. “Really? Holy shit. I always wondered about you, Derek, the way you were so interested in persecuting me. Looks like I was right.”

Derek’s entire posture shifted from self-assured to wary. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”

“You sure seemed pretty interested in me for someone who’s _supposedly_ straight.”

Derek jerked around, obviously looking to see who could overhear them. Jensen glanced over the same area with his eyes. No one was nearby or paying them any attention. Everyone seemed to be watching the game on the televisions.

“Fuck you, man, I was just being friendly,” Derek said after he’d apparently figured out the same thing.

“What’s going on?” Jeff said, coming up next to Jared.

Derek’s eyes widened when he saw Jeff towering over all of them.

“Jeff, I’d like you to meet Derek Seyler,” Jared said quietly.

Jeff obviously knew the name. His entire body stance shifted, his shoulders dropping back, chest rising up. “Really? You trying to bait the gay boys, Seyler?”

“No, he was trying to get in this gay boy’s pants,” Jensen said, hands on his hips.

Derek floundered for a second, looking on the edge of panic. “Do I look like a faggot to you?” he hissed under his breath. “It’s not my fault you misunderstood, fucking fag!”

Jared’s face went deadly serious, and he stepped forward, putting a finger in Derek’s face. “Say that again, Derek, I dare you.”

“Hey, hey, Jared, this little bigot ain’t worth it, man.” Jeff moved to pull Jared away from Derek, who he shot a nasty look. “Not that he doesn’t _deserve_ it, but we don’t need to get in a fight tonight,” he said, his voice low. “You got a plane to catch tomorrow, man.”

Jensen watched the proceedings, thoughts zinging through his head. He wasn’t stupid, he knew when someone was coming on to him, and Derek had definitely been hitting on him. And now the guy was playing innocent, posturing, deflecting and trying to turn things around onto Jensen and Jared. The only thing that made sense to Jensen was that Derek was gay, but in the closet and desperate to stay there.

Derek gaped up at Jared and Jeff. “Shit, if I knew being queer made you sprout like a fucking tree, I’d have tried it in high school!”

Jensen gave him an “are you fucking kidding me?” look. Jeff and Jared both turned to goggle at him as well, clearly amazed at the sheer stupidity that had just fallen out of his mouth.

Derek seemed to realize what he’d said, and his face turned beet red. “Um, not that I tried it, you know, because I’m not…” His feet seemed to finally come unglued from the floor, and he backed away. Jensen was blocking his way to the door, and in the other direction was a group of people who were the picture-perfect example of straight Texas folks, currently occupied by whatever was on the television, as long as they didn’t do anything to attract their attention.

Derek sagged in defeat, cornered. “Man, just let me out of here. I’ll leave you alone.”

Something twanged in Jensen’s heart, the same place that always made him cave when Jared used his puppy eyes. Derek was the epitome of a gay man in deeply closeted misery, full of self-loathing and terror that he’d be found out, and Jensen’s heart broke just a little from looking at him. Fuck, he was such a softie.

Jensen sighed, dropping his hands from his hips and relaxing his defensive posture. “Aw, hell,” he muttered, wondering why he was doing this. “Why don’t you join us, Derek?”

Jared and Jeff both whipped their heads at Jensen, eyes wide. “What?” Jared spat.

“W-what?” Derek said at the same time.

“Look, I’m not interested in spending time with this guy any more than you are. But it seems to me that Derek here needs someone to talk to, someone who knows what being gay in Texas is like, and what it’s like to accept yourself and live openly.” He raised an eyebrow at Jared, and then looked back at Derek. “No one’s gonna force you, and if you want to go, by all means, go.” He stepped to the side, opening up a space that Derek could fit through to get to the door. “But if you want to talk civilly, we’ll be over there by the pool table.”

Jensen picked up the beer and glasses again, nudging Jared toward the back of the bar. Jared met his gaze, hazel eyes searching his, face pensive. He seemed to think for a moment, and then he nodded.

Jared looked at Jensen, then Derek, then back at his brother. “Alright then. Come on, let’s play pool.”

Jeff nodded and turned around, leading the way to the pool table at the back of the room. Jared and Jensen followed him, walking away from Derek without looking back.

Jensen smiled as he set down their beer on the table Jeff had staked out. Dropping into his seat, he took his jacket off and draped it on the chair behind him. Jared did the same and then poured them each a beer.

Jeff picked up his glass and raised it in a toast. “To not getting in a fight,” he said, grinning.

Jared and Jensen both concurred, clanking glasses with Jeff. Jared immediately chugged half of his glass. “Thanks, guys,” he mumbled after he swallowed. He looked a little rattled, but relieved. Jensen figured he’d just had something upended in his world—the guy who’d been a bully, someone who had caused Jared a lot of heartache, turned out to be in the closet and miserable. The irony of it all was sweet and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Jeff sat down on a chair, kicking his long legs out in front of him. “I’m glad that didn’t go as badly as I thought it might. Heather would have kicked my ass out onto the sofa if I’d got into a fight.”

Jared copied his brother’s sprawling slouch. “Whipped.”

Jensen just looked over them both and was privately amused. He could imagine Jared as a kid, imitating his older brother. Jensen used to do the same thing with Josh, and it was adorable that Jared, usually so independent and headstrong, would slip into copying his big brother. He doubted Jared even realized he was doing it. It was obvious that they were close, and Jensen could see, now, why the prospect of Jeff rejecting Jared’s relationship with Jensen would bother Jared so much. Jensen hoped he was right about Jeff coming around eventually.

Jeff laughed. “You got that right. You have no idea, Jay, of the power of a woman.”

“Oh, I’ve been on the receiving end of Sandy on a rampage, thank you very much,” Jared said. “That is one powerful ball of five-foot-two kick-ass.”

“Not the same as your wife, man. But you seem pretty whipped yourself, runt. Jensen has you wrapped around his little finger.”

Jared looked put out for a second, and then he conceded. “I can’t argue with that.”

“It’s pretty much mutual,” Jensen admitted. He figured that was a good thing.

“Um…” came a voice to their side.

All three of them looked over to see Derek standing there, fidgeting on his feet. He had another full beer in his hand. The mood at the table immediately sobered.

“Pull up a seat, Derek,” Jensen said.

Derek grabbed a chair from a neighboring table and sat down, well out of arm’s reach of any of them. He didn’t seem to know what to say, his mouth opening and closing a couple of times before he finally came out with, “You can’t tell anyone, please.”

“I’ve been outed against my will before, Derek,” Jared said. “It wasn’t fun.”

Derek looked down, ashamed. “I didn’t do that.”

“Maybe not, but you sure spread it around. But the point is that I wouldn’t ever put anyone through that, no matter how much of an asshole they are.”

“I’m not… gay. I’m _not_. I can’t be.” Derek frowned took a gulp of his beer.

Jensen leaned back in his seat, contemplative. “What does the word ‘gay’ mean to you, Derek?”

Derek floundered for a moment. “It’s… Fuck, I don’t know. Queer, wrong, abnormal. Faggy guys who are more like girls. Wimpy, pussy, unmasculine. Weak. Everything I’m _not_.”

Jensen let the insults slide over him. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t heard before, and Derek wasn’t really directing those words at him or Jared, anyway. No, he had built up this inaccurate idea of what it meant to be gay and was torturing himself with it. “But you like having sex with guys.”

Derek shook his head violently.

Jensen snorted. “That’s why you were hitting on me, right? Come on, you don’t have to lie to us, man. You’re talking to people who _know_.”

“We aren’t gonna beat you up if you admit it, Derek,” Jared said. “Be honest for once.”

Derek’s eyes darted between all three of them. “You’re all gay?” he asked, his voice small.

“No, I’m straight,” Jeff said, unconcerned and matter-of-fact. “And married. But my brother and my best friend are both gay. And my sister-in-law is a lesbian. So I’m pro gay rights.”

“Jeff’s my brother,” Jared clarified.

Jensen put his hand on Jared’s thigh under the table. His muscles were relaxed, not tense, and Jensen smiled, feeling proud of his boyfriend.

“So, he’s your… boyfriend?” Derek asked, gesturing to Jensen.

Jared nodded. “Yes, this is Jensen.”

“Do either of them look like _wimps_ to you?” Jeff asked. “Like weak, effeminate, girly men?”

Derek took on a slightly bewildered look again as he looked at Jensen and Jared. “No, not really.”

“See, that’s a stereotype,” Jeff said. “Kind of like the stereotype that all jocks are dumb as bricks and slide through life on their athleticism. But that isn’t true of all or even most jocks, is it?”

Jensen mentally high-fived Jeff for that. Way to sneak in a dig.

Derek frowned, and Jensen could see gears jamming in his head. “There’s nothing wrong with being gay, Derek,” he said.

Derek shook his head again and bit his lip, apparently not ready to believe that just yet. He looked at Jared, conflict all over his face. “How… aren’t you scared of being found out?”

“Everyone already knows,” Jared answered, shifting in his chair so his thigh brushed up against Jensen’s. “My family, my friends, my professors, the school, the other students in my program, my boss. I don’t hide it.”

Derek looked as if Jared was speaking Greek. “And they’re okay with it?”

“Sure they are. And the people who have a problem with it don’t matter. I don’t care what they think. I don’t need their approval.”

Derek looked over at Jensen, question in his eyes.

Jensen nodded. “I’m open about it, too. Some people rejected me for it, but the people who count don’t care. Plus, we live in California now, and people there are a lot more accepting than here in Texas.” He tried to not let the pain associated with losing his parents show; he didn’t want to go into that with Seyler.

“But it’s unnatural, it’s sinful, and…” Derek scowled.

“You’ve tried being straight, haven’t you?” Jensen interrupted, annoyed at hearing the same bullshit his parents spouted at him. “Tried so hard, pretended so much that you almost had yourself convinced?”

Derek went completely still for a long moment, and then he nodded. It seemed to break something inside him.

“But no matter how much you tried, you haven’t been able to turn yourself straight, right?” Jared said.

“No.” The word was a whisper, and Derek looked devastated.

Jensen continued. “That’s because it’s who you are. It’s biological, you didn’t choose it, and you can’t change it. No amount of praying or pretending will make the gay go away. No matter what any religion says, you can’t change who you are. And the longer you try to hide it, to pretend, the more it eats you up inside.”

Derek seemed flabbergasted, staring at Jensen. Jeff and Jared were gaping at him, too. Jensen took a large swallow of his beer, relaxing when he felt Jared’s hand on his thigh.

“How do you do it?” Derek asked.

“You have to surround yourself with people who support you. It isn’t easy, and coming out is pretty much a continual process,” Jared said. “But it’s worth it to not live a lie. Even when people are cruel toward me, call me fag or pussy or fairy, I would rather be true to myself than live a lie.”

Derek winced at Jared’s words. “I’m really sorry, Jared. About everything I did in high school, calling you names and painting shit on your locker.”

Jared leaned back and just looked at Derek.

Derek fidgeted, and then seemed to understand that Jared was waiting for more. Then it seemed the dam inside him burst; words started pouring out of his mouth. “It was just… everything was fine until I started noticing guys, you know? Everything was normal, and then all of a sudden in junior high, it all went sideways. My hormones were raging for the wrong gender, and I knew that if anyone found out, my life would be ruined. So I buried it. Dated girls, fucked girls when I could manage it, but I had to keep my eyes closed and pretend it was a guy. I thought if I just tried hard enough, I could be normal, you know?

“And then I heard about you, and you didn’t deny it. You didn’t hide it, and it didn’t make any sense. I hated you for it.” He took a swallow of his beer, pensive. “No, I think you were everything that I hated about myself, only you were proud of it, and you could be yourself while I had to hide. I just…” He shrugged, words failing him, and took another gulp of his beer.

“I get it,” Jared said. “You were jealous and took it out on me. I understand.”

“I’m sorry, man. I’ve always felt bad about it.” Derek’s blue eyes were watery, but no tears fell.

Jared gazed at him for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay, I accept your apology.”

Derek obviously didn’t expect Jared to say that. “Really?”

Jared shrugged. “Just stop calling people fags. I’m not saying you have to come out, because it’s your life and you have to do what’s best for you, but stop being a bully.”

Derek nodded. “I don’t do that very much anymore, actually. Not since high school. I kind of just… reacted automatically when I saw you. But I’ll try to be better about the name-calling thing.”

Jensen hoped he was being sincere.

“Do you think you might eventually come out?” Jeff asked.

Derek gazed down into his half-full beer glass and was silent for a long moment. Jensen just looked at Jeff and Jared, saw sympathy written all over their faces. At least no one was contemplating violence anymore.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” Derek said finally. “I don’t have a supportive family like you guys do.”

Jensen frowned, wishing the ache surrounding his parents would just fucking stop surfacing already. He was usually better than this at keeping it at bay. It had been on his mind all weekend, and it was getting frustrating. He pushed the hurt away. No matter what his parents did, at least Jensen still had his brother and sister who loved him. He had Jared, and it looked like he had Jared’s family, as well. So he shouldn’t be dwelling on it anymore.

“Is there anyone in your life who you can talk to about this?” Jared asked. “Anyone who you can trust with it? A boyfriend? A girlfriend, maybe? Didn’t you date that cheerleader Staci… what was her name?”

Derek sagged again. “Staci Alvarez. Yeah, I dated her all through college. But we broke up a couple of months ago.”

“She didn’t find out you were hooking up with guys, did she?” Jeff asked.

“No, she never knew. But I wasn’t in love with her, had a hard time being with her, and she knew it. I wasn’t ready to get married and have kids, so she let me go.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Jared said.

“Yeah, well, now I’ve got nobody. I’ve never dated a guy, and I don’t want to go through faking it with a girl anymore… I don’t know what to do.”

“I know there are support groups, Derek,” Jensen suggested. “You might have to look to find them, but they exist. PFLAG is a place to start.”

“You might have better luck going to San Antonio than here in New Braunfels. I know there’s a bigger gay community there,” Jeff said.

“Or Austin,” Jared added. “My sister goes to college in Austin, and she says there’s a more supportive community there.”

Derek bit his lip. “How do you know if things will be alright?”

“You don’t,” Jensen answered. “We are not promising that things will be okay or that you won’t lose friends or even some family. We can’t promise you that it won’t hurt. But the people who really love you, they’ll stand by you. And you might be surprised by the people who support you. But I’ve been in the closet, I’ve been outed and lost people, and I’ve lived openly ever since. Being out is better. I would never go back into hiding, not for a second, not even if it meant getting my parents back.”

Jensen frowned and looked into his beer glass. He hadn’t meant to let that bit about his parents slip. He took a large gulp to finish off the glass, and then occupied himself by pouring himself another. Jared’s hand squeezed his thigh gently.

“Jared, can I talk to you… if I need someone to talk to?” Derek asked, his voice small.

Jensen felt Jared stiffen beside him. He imagined Jared was feeling really conflicted at the moment, about being asked to help the guy who’d tormented him all through high school. Jensen didn’t know if he’d be able to do it, himself. But Jared had a bigger, more forgiving heart than Jensen did, so he wasn’t surprised when he felt Jared sigh, caving.

“I don’t live in Texas anymore, Derek, so I don’t know how much help I can be. We’re going back to California tomorrow. But you can email me if you want, and we can start from there. I can send you links to various national gay rights groups like PFLAG or the HRC. In the meantime, do some research on your own. Find someone local to talk to, or go into San Antonio or Austin and find someone there. Do some soul-searching on your own, send me emails if you want, and then if you still really need to talk to me, we can exchange phone numbers. Alright?”

Derek’s face slowly transformed into a hopeful grin, and Jensen could see that this guy could be really gorgeous if he just smiled, accepted himself. He was still clouded over with too much self-loathing, but there was potential. Jensen hoped he’d figure things out.

“Alright, thank you, Jared.”

As Jared and Derek exchanged email addresses, Jensen sensed that the conversation was coming to an end. He stood up and started looking through the pool cues mounted on the wall, trying to find one that was straight. And then he snorted to himself. Straight, ha. Jeff stood up and went over to the pool table, making sure that the balls were still racked properly.

“You break, Jensen,” Jeff said, sliding the rack off of the balls.

“Well, um, thanks, guys, I’ll let you get to your game now,” Derek said, standing awkwardly. “Have a good trip back to California.”

Jensen was amused. “Good luck, Derek. It was good to meet you.” He actually meant it this time.

Derek pretty much fled the bar then, and Jensen and Jeff shared a look. “So,” Jensen said. “That was unexpected.”

Jared was pouring himself another beer. “Understatement of the century, Jen.”

Jeff broke out into a laugh. “You guys are amazing, you know that?”

Jensen bent down to aim his break shot. “Why’s that?” He hit the cue ball forcefully, watching as it scattered the balls all over the table. The five and the three dropped into a couple of the pockets, and Jensen grinned wolfishly. Solids.

Jared gave a low whistle, impressed. “Goddamn, you look good doing that, Jensen.”

Jensen just winked at his boyfriend.

Jeff gave him a wary look. “Aw man, you’re gonna kick my ass, aren’t you?”

“Serves you right for beating me at bowling.”

Jeff shrugged, unrepentant.

“What did you mean, Jeff?” Jared asked.

“Oh, just that I can’t believe that you guys run into a man who used to bully you, and not only do you _not_ kick his ass, you help him come out to himself, get him to apologize, and offer to be part of his support group. I just… well, I’m impressed. I was worried that we’d end up having to thump him, the way he was mouthing off.”

Jensen took aim at the yellow one ball, and sunk it in the corner pocket. “Well, from the way he was trying to be all sly and hit on me and then deny it, I figured he was probably in the closet. It didn’t make sense to beat him up for it then.”

“Yeah,” Jared added. “It was like once I understood why, the shit he did in high school didn’t matter quite as much anymore. It was better to help him out than let him go on being an asshole.”

Jensen lined up a bank shot on the seven, which dropped right into the center pocket he was aiming for.

“Fuck, Jensen, give a guy a chance,” Jeff complained.

The cue ball rolled a bit further than Jensen had planned on, then, and he didn’t have a good shot anymore. He ended up missing the two, but at least he didn’t leave Jeff a good shot, either, with the cue ball tucked behind the four. “There you go, have a blast.”

Jeff surveyed his options, scowling. “Shit. I was gonna be nice and tell you that I don’t care if you guys have a physically impossible dream bond, because you’re obviously really close and really good for each other, but I won’t bother now. There’s no way I’m accepting you if you’re gonna slaughter me this badly.”

Jensen grinned, and Jared leaped over to give Jeff a huge hug. Jeff grunted at the near-tackle and patted Jared on the back. “Easy there, runt.” He messed up Jared’s hair. “You done good, kid,” he said so softly that Jensen almost didn’t hear it from the other side of the pool table.

“Thank you, Jeff,” Jared said, his face serious. “I mean it.”

“Yeah, I know.” He looked over at Jensen. “You sure you want to be with this gigantic dork?”

Jensen just beamed and nodded, his heart feeling huge and happy in his chest, loving the joy on Jared’s face.

“Welcome to the family then, Jensen,” Jeff said, then batted Jared away. “Get off me, you octopus. I have to attempt to salvage some of my dignity here, you know. Your man is kicking my ass.”

Jared just laughed, hazel eyes gleaming in the dim bar light.

* * *

They stumbled into the house a little before 3:00 am as the taxi drove away, the three of them leaning on each other to stay upright. Somehow Jensen was in the middle of a Padalecki sandwich, trying to hold up a plastered Jeff. They’d worked their way through four (or was it five?) more pitchers of beer, then a few rounds of whisky shots, and Jensen had lost track after that. He had, however, maintained dominance over the pool table before they stopped playing, too drunk to shoot straight. Jeff had given up after losing three games in a row, calling Jensen a pool shark, and then Jared ended up attempting impossible shots just so he could stretch across the table, shirt riding up to show off the skin of his torso, the incorrigible flirt. Jensen had still wiped the table with him.

“I don’ understand it,” Jeff slurred. “‘S’like you’re in… you’re in… what’s the word? In synch.” They were trying to be quiet so they wouldn’t wake up everyone else in the house, but Jensen suspected that their stealth was lacking at the moment.

“N’SYNC’s a boy-band, moron,” Jared replied, equally slurred. He was standing behind Jensen, arms wrapped around his chest, hips nestled right up against his ass. “Jen could give Timberlake a run for his money, though.”

Jensen laughed and stumbled forward, trying to direct them toward the sofa, because the walls were moving. “Jay, you’re talking about your jerk-off fant—fantasies out loud again,” he teased, to which Jared giggled and waggled his eyebrows. “‘Sides, we already es-esthablished that I’m not boy-band material.”

“So you say, but I know better,” Jared replied, voice sing-song.

Jeff chortled loudly as he fell onto the sofa, pulling Jared and Jensen down with him. They ended up in an awkward heap, and it took a couple of minutes for them to disentangle themselves. The hand on Jensen’s ass felt too big to be Jared’s, and _that_ was a horrid thought.

“No, no, I mean, it’s like you’re a… you’re a… old married couple…” Jeff said when he was settled, his hands back in his own personal space and nowhere near Jensen. He didn’t even seem to realize that he’d just palmed Jensen’s ass, so Jensen figured it wasn’t intentional. “You’re so…” Jeff swirled his hands around each other, attempting to illustrate his point. “So… in tune with each other. ‘S’like you been together for years, man… the way you move with each other.”

“‘S’cause we _have_ been together for years.” Jared pointed at his brother. “Told you so.”

“But how?” Jeff looked so perplexed, like he just couldn’t fathom how this piece of information fit into his ordered, scientific world. “I mean, I get it, but I _really don’ get it_ at the same time.”

Jensen sniggered. “Dunno. Doesn’t really… doesn’ really matter, though, does it? Stop tryin’ to make it… to make sense, Jeff, or you’ll get tied up… you’ll tie your brain up in knots.”

“Shh, shh shh, you guys!” Jared hollered. “You wanna wake up th’ whole house?”

“Too late,” came a voice behind them.

Jensen whipped his head around and the room whirled. “Whoah.”

“Oh shit,” Jeff and Jared both said.

Sherri was standing there in a bathrobe, her dark hair messy and half sticking up on one side. Heather was next to her, in a t-shirt that had to be one of Jeff’s, given how it hung down to just above her knees. Even with her pregnant belly, she seemed to be swimming in it. She looked annoyed and amused.

“Well, I’m glad to see you had a good time and are all getting along, at least,” Sherri snarked.

“Sorry, Sherri,” Jensen mumbled from behind his hands. This was _such_ a great impression to give his de facto mother-in-law.

“Pshaw, Jensen, don’t you worry. This happens at least once every time Jared and Jeff get together. They’re terrible influences.”

“Hey!” Jared protested. “I’ll have you know I’m a great inf… I’m a great inflce… I’m a role model.”

Sherri just quirked an eyebrow. “Uh huh. Come on, boys, it’s time for bed.”

Heather came over to help Jeff. “Up you go, babe.”

“Imma little drunk,” Jeff blurted, stumbling as he stood.

Heather laughed. “Really? I never would have noticed.”

Jensen was worried that Jeff would fall over on his wife and smoosh her into the carpet, but she managed to hold him up and direct him toward the hallway. Jensen watched as Jeff dropped to his hands and knees and crawled up the stairs. Probably a better idea than trying to walk up them and then falling down, Jensen figured.

“Jared, Jensen, bedtime,” Sherri repeated.

“Good idea, Mama,” Jared said. He tried to get up off the sofa, but apparently his limbs weren’t quite cooperating, because for all his flailing, his butt stayed firmly in his seat.

Sherri gave a soft snort. “Oh, you’re gonna be a ray of sunshine in the morning. Jensen, can you get up?”

Jensen blinked. He’d been busy just watching Jared and Jeff. Using Jared’s shoulders as leverage, he pushed himself to his feet, smiling proudly when he realized he was standing.

Sherri chuckled again. “Good. Need you to help me get my son to bed.”

Together, Sherri and Jensen pulled Jared to his feet. Sherri herded them down the hall, while Jared attached himself like a leech to Jensen’s back, leaning heavily on him and murmuring into his ear, “Mmm, gonna take advantage of me in my drunken state?”

Sherri laughed loudly. “Jared, shut up and go to bed!”

“Oh, shit, she heard me!” Jared blurted.

Jensen could feel his face flushing as he navigated them into Jared’s bedroom. Jared pulled his shirt off, dropping it right on the floor, and then fell face down onto the bed, pants and shoes still on.

Jensen slowly turned around, now that Jared was safely deposited onto the bed, and stumbled back into the hall. Sherri was still standing there, apparently waiting to make sure they got to bed alright.

“You okay, Jensen?” she asked.

“Yeah. Just gonna… bathroom,” he pointed at the bathroom door and then back toward Jared’s room, “and then bed.”

“Okay. See you in the morning.” Sherri smiled softly at him and then turned around to go up the stairs.

Jensen watched her go for a moment, then lurched into the bathroom. Water. He needed a big drink of water, or he was really gonna hurt in the morning. But first he had to pee.

He relieved himself of what felt like three gallons of beer, then gulped down a glass of water. Looking in the mirror, he could see that his eyes were really bloodshot. Crap. He still had his contacts in. Well, it wasn’t the first time he’d done this drunk. He fumbled for the toiletry bag he’d left in the bathroom, and gave a happy little cheer when he came out with his contact case and a bottle of ibuprofen. Painkillers, brilliant!

It took him a bit longer to get his contacts out than usual, but then he swallowed down a couple of pills. He wobbled his way back to the bedroom with the bottle and a glass of water, intending to share with Jared.

Jared apparently had other ideas, though. The moment Jensen shut the door and set his stuff on the bedside table, Jared pulled him into the bed with octopus arms, his hands immediately fumbling into Jensen’s jeans. Jensen was surprised at how agilely Jared was able to get his pants down around his hips.

“Want you to take advantage, Jen.”

Jensen felt his body take interest. The rush of lust on top of the swirl of drunkenness was quite pleasant. “Like that idea,” he mumbled, and pulled off his shirt.

Jared had already shed his clothes, and he fumbled at Jensen’s, yanking his jeans and briefs down his legs.

Both naked now, they met in the middle of the bed, mouths brushing clumsily. Jared tasted like whiskey, and Jensen eagerly sucked on his tongue. They were probably too drunk to coordinate full-on fucking, but hand jobs, yeah, hand jobs were doable. He reached down and fisted Jared’s erection, pulling on it and swiping his thumb across the crown.

“Fuck, yeah, Jen!” Jared moaned into his mouth.

Jensen groaned when he felt Jared’s hand circle his cock, jerking it clumsily. Pleasure pooled low in his hips. “Mmm, yeah, Jay.”

They kissed sloppily, tongues thrusting uncoordinatedly, fucking into each other’s hands, and Jensen felt so deliciously good. Drunken hand jobs were _awesome_.

Jared grunted and came, spurting in Jensen’s hand and across his own stomach. “Unf, yeah Jen!”

Jensen grinned and worked his boyfriend through his orgasm. Jared’s body went still a second later, his fist loosening around Jensen’s aching cock.

“My turn, Jay,” Jensen mumbled.

Jared responded by flopping onto his back and snoring loudly.

“Jay?” Jensen shoved at him, hoping to wake him back up. But Jared was out for the count. Jensen glared at him. “Oh, you fucker,” he grumbled. “Leave me high and dry. Okay, drunken hand jobs officially _suck_.”

Jensen rolled onto his back and tossed Jared’s hand over onto his stomach. Taking his own cock into his hand, Jensen fisted himself, needing desperately to come. He imagined Jared fucking him hard, and used some of Jared’s come to slick up the fingers of his left hand. He reached behind and plunged two fingers into his hole, fucking into himself. “Oh fuck, yeah.”

It didn’t take much longer, not with the way his fingers pumping in and out of his ass were shooting electricity up his spine. Jensen groaned as he climaxed, enjoying the pulses of pleasure in his ass and his dick.

When his body stopped twitching, Jensen looked over at his passed-out boyfriend. Chuckling evilly, he wiped his come-soaked hands off on Jared’s stomach. He then used Jared’s discarded t-shirt to clean off his fingers and skin, leaving Jared covered in spooge. That’d teach him to pass out in the middle of sex. He pulled the sheets over them both and fell asleep almost immediately, a pleased smile on his face.

* * *

The bedroom door opened loudly, followed by a booming knock. “Good morning, good moooorning!” Sherri sang cheerily as she walked into Jared’s room the next morning.

Jensen opened his eyes and winced at the light coming in from the window. He took quick stock of his and Jared’s situation, and when he verified that they were both fully covered by the blankets, he relaxed. Rubbing his hand over his face, he peeked out at Jared’s mom.

She was leaning against the doorjamb, smiling widely, cup of coffee in her hand. She looked far too cheery and perky for anyone to be in the morning.

“G’morning,” Jensen mumbled.

Jared, on the other hand, grumbled and burrowed further under the blankets, pulling the pillow over his face. Jensen thought he said something like, “Uurrrnngh. G’way fucking bright,” followed by a hiss and an “oww.”

Sherri snickered, clearly amused.

Jensen could feel a headache behind his eyes, but it was relatively mild. His stomach felt a little queasy, but not too bad. As far as hangovers went, this was pretty minor. That water and Advil last night had obviously staved off the worst of it.

Jared, on the other hand, had passed out before he could take some. Shit. Jensen felt guilt creep over him. His boyfriend was gonna have a doozy of a headache.

“You alive, there, Jensen?” Sherri asked.

Jensen squinted over at her. She was still grinning. “Yeah. Mostly.”

“You seem more human than Jared, at least. You must hold your liquor better.”

Jensen huffed. “No, I just know how to ward off a hangover better. Water and painkillers.”

Sherri chuckled. “You’re a smart one, Jensen. You boys need to get up. You still gotta finish packing in time to catch your flight.”

Jensen looked over at the clock. It was after 10:00 AM already, and even though their flight was at 4:30, they needed to be out the door by 1:30 to ensure they had enough time to drive back to San Antonio, drop off their rental car, and get through security. “Crap. Alright, I’m up. Thanks, Sherri.”

“No problem. You get cleaned up, get Jared up, and then come to the kitchen. I’ll make you boys some breakfast.” She shut the door behind her as she left.

Jensen sat up and blearily blinked at the sunlight on the carpet for a long moment, trying to get his brain to start working.

He reached over to the bedside table and opened the bottle of ibuprofen, pouring out four pills. He swallowed two of them dry, and then nudged his boyfriend. “Jared.”

“Dnwanna,” Jared growled from under the pillow.

“Jay, come on. Advil and water. It will help.”

The pillow moved and Jared’s head emerged from beneath it, his hair looking like a bird’s nest. “Gimme,” he grunted, one hand reaching out blindly, fingers grasping.

Jensen smiled and held out the two little brown pills and the glass of water.

Jared gulped them both down greedily, then groaned as he fell back onto the bed. “Oh god, I feel like hell.”

“I’m sorry, Jay. You passed right out last night.” Jensen climbed out of bed and found his boxers and t-shirt from the night before, pulling them on. “Hopefully you’ll feel better quickly. I’m gonna shower. Your mom’s making breakfast. But we gotta get up and pack. Have to leave in a few hours.” Jensen pulled out clean clothing from his bag and headed for the bedroom door.

“Urgh, okay,” Jared moaned, rubbing his hands across his face. He sat up, and then let out a little yelp. “Ouch! What the hell?”

“What?” Jensen turned around, concerned.

Jared was pulling gently at the top sheet, which appeared to be glued to his stomach.

And then Jensen _remembered_. “Oh shit!” He snickered.

He could see Jared’s eyes moving as he pieced together his memories from last night. “Did we fuck and I don’t remember it? I vaguely remember a hand job, but…”

Jensen bit down a smirk and forced a pout instead. Oh, he was gonna milk this for all it was worth, as long as he could. “No, we didn’t fuck. I gave you a hand job, you passed out and left me high and dry to take care of myself.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, Jen.” Jared looked contrite and miserable.

“You can make it up to me later,” Jensen said magnanimously.

Jared looked at him for a moment longer, confusion on his face. “But wait… you aren’t stuck to the sheets…”

Jensen cracked up. “Guess I’m just not as messy as you, Jay.”

Jared’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, you asshole!”

Jensen just laughed. “Had to take care of that myself last night, too.”

Jared made to lunge at him and then yelped as the sheet pulled at his skin again. He collapsed back down on the bed, one hand on his stomach, the other on his head. “Ow.”

“Best just yank it off like a bandaid,” Jensen suggested.

“Aw, man, I’m gonna lose hair. I hate you.”

Jensen chuckled, opening the bedroom door. “You love me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jared grouched, giving Jensen a look that was aggravation and adoration in equal measure. “I’m totally gonna get you back, you know.”

Jensen smirked. “Of course! But not now. Now, I’m gonna go shower, and you’re gonna wax your stomach.”

Just as Jensen shut the bathroom door, he heard Jared let out a loud, pained, “YEOUCH! MOTHER FUCKER!” and Jensen sniggered a laugh into his arm, which grew into full-on hysterics when he heard Sherri shout, “Jared, language!” from the kitchen. Part of him felt bad that Jared had to deal with that on top of a hangover, but it was still fucking hilarious. Plus, Jared’s retaliation, whatever it might be, would still lead to awesome sex. So, _win_.

* * *

When Jensen stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed, Jared was standing in the hall waiting for him, sleep rumpled still in boxers and a t-shirt, with a mug of coffee in his hand. With his other hand, he pulled Jensen into a kiss that tasted like toothpaste and coffee. He must have brushed his teeth upstairs.

“Mmm, good morning,” Jared said when the kiss broke.

Jensen smiled and wrapped his arms around Jared. “Morning. You feeling better?”

Jared nodded. “A little. The water helped, and the Advil is starting to kick in.”

“Good. I’m sorry I left you all spunky last night.”

Jared just raised an eyebrow at him. “No you’re not.”

Jensen sniggered. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Jared swatted Jensen on the ass, the slap stinging just a little. “Jerk. But I suppose I deserved it for not getting you off. Peace offering?” He held out the mug of coffee.

“Oh god, coffee,” Jensen moaned happily as he reached for the cup. “I love you, Jay.”

“You just love me because I bring you coffee.” Jared mock-pouted.

“That too.” Jensen took a large gulp of the coffee making his “happy-coffee-noises.” It was just right—a little cream, no sugar.

Jared grinned at him. “That’s right, I’m awesome.”

Jensen just nodded, too busy loving his coffee to say anything.

“Mom’s got breakfast ready. Go on down and eat. I’ll shower and meet you in the kitchen in a few.”

“Alright.” Jensen kissed him again and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen as Jared disappeared into the bathroom.

Sherri was at the stove, and Gerry was at the table, reading a newspaper while he sipped at a mug of coffee.

“Morning,” Jensen greeted.

Sherri and Gerry both smiled at him. “Good morning.” Gerry set down the paper.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Jensen said. “We really were trying to be quiet.”

Gerry laughed. “Jensen, my boys aren’t even capable of being quiet when they’re sober. Unless they’re up to mischief, and then you have to watch out. It’s not the first time they’ve stumbled in late at night drunk, and I doubt it will be the last.”

“Eggs and bacon, Jensen?” Sherri asked.

Jensen’s stomach growled. “Yeah, Sherri, that’d be awesome.”

She set a plate with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast down on the table. Jensen sat down, suddenly feeling ravenous.

“You look like you feel better,” Sherri said. “Jared looks worse, and I still haven’t seen Jeff yet. But I’m glad you seem human. I’d worry if you were driving back to San Antonio hung over.”

“I’m okay,” Jensen mumbled between bites. The food tasted incredible. “Headache is fading already, thanks.”

Silence fell at the table, and after a moment of shoveling food into his mouth, he looked up to see Gerry and Sherri watching him, contemplative looks on their faces. He suddenly realized that he was _alone_ with Jared’s parents for the first time this whole trip, and he started to feel a little self-conscious. “What is it?” He swiped his hand across his mouth just to be sure he didn’t have food on his face, or something.

Sherri and Gerry shared a look, and Jensen felt even more cornered.

“Jensen,” Gerry began. “I don’t know what to make of your and Jared’s story.”

Jensen’s heart plummeted, but Gerry continued.

“But I really don’t think it matters. I’ve watched you and Jared together this weekend, and it’s obvious that you’re close in a way that only years can bring. I may not be very religious and I don’t believe in God having a hand in everything, but I also don’t dispute that there are some things in this world that are bigger than us, that we can’t explain with science. And that’s okay. I think that you and Jared are like that.”

Jensen gulped, his heart hammering in his chest, completely floored.

Sherri nodded in agreement. “Back when Jared was a teenager and he was drawing all of those pictures of you—he never seemed as _grounded_ or _centered_ as when he was working on his artwork of you. I remember his first boyfriend, how they liked each other fine, but weren’t deeply compatible. And when he was with Justin, he held himself at a distance, never fully committed. I could tell from one visit that no matter how much they liked each other—and they did like each other very much—it wasn’t real love.”

“But with you,” Gerry said, “it’s different. It’s like he’s more fully _himself_ with you. More genuine. I’ve never seen him as intimate with anyone like he is with you, and I mean just in your everyday interactions.”

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it,” Sherri agreed. “It’s in the way you move with each other, like you’ve been dancing together for years.”

“Um…” Jensen wasn’t sure how to respond. He was a bit overwhelmed, actually. He’d been vaguely aware that Jared’s parents had been observing him, but in hindsight, he supposed he’d been preoccupied by the situation with Jeff. That they’d been able to see that deeply into his relationship with Jared was surprising.

Sherri gave him a small smile. “Oh, I know we’re probably making you uncomfortable, honey. I’m sorry. I guess that we’re just trying to say that we believe you, even if it doesn’t make sense rationally. It doesn’t have to make sense, because when I look at you and Jared together, _you_ make sense.”

Gerry nodded.

“Wow.” Jensen suddenly felt a hundred times lighter and quite awkward at the same time. “Okay, thank you,” he said finally. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. I was worried you’d think we were crazy.”

Sherri laughed. “Well, I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t cross my mind. But only for a moment. It was pretty obvious from the beginning that there is something special between the two of you. All I care about is that Jared is happy and loved. And he’s happier than I’ve ever seen him. It’s clear that you love him very much.”

“That I do.” No matter how uncomfortable Jensen was with talking this candidly about his feelings for Jared with Sherri and Gerry, he appreciated what they were doing.

“I don’t know you very well,” Gerry said, “but I know that will change. And I can see that Jared is good for you, too. You seem like a pretty reserved guy, keep yourself at a distance, right?”

Jensen nodded. That was a fair assessment. He tended to hold himself back until he was really comfortable with people, until he felt like he could trust them somewhat.

“You open right up around Jared, and it’s wonderful to watch.” Gerry’s face went serious, then. “I know that you’ve been hurt in the past by your family. Jared told us what happened with your parents.”

Jensen went stiff in his chair. He had given Jared his permission to tell them, but his automatic reaction to anyone bringing up his parents was to _not talk about it_.

Gerry leaned forward. “You can tell me to butt my nose out of your business if you want, Jensen. I’m just trying to say that no parent should ever reject their child like what happened to you. I’m so sorry you went through that. I know that we can’t ever replace your parents, but Sherri and I wanted to tell you that you are now a part of our family, officially, and that you are welcome in our home anytime, with or without Jared.”

“Welcome to the family, Jensen.” Sherry reached out one hand and placed it on top of Jensen’s.

Jensen gaped at them. There had been various statements over the weekend about becoming part of the family from Megan and Jeff, but this… this formal, _official_ acceptance, it hit Jensen hard in the chest. It cut right into him and stitched him up whole at the same time.

“Wow, um…” Jensen sat back in his chair. It took him a minute to collect his scattered thoughts and emotions. He felt like he was going to bubble over and say something ridiculously sappy. “Thank you, both of you. All I can say is that I’ve had more fun with you this Thanksgiving than I ever had with my own parents. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you accept me. Jared is… well, I’m just glad that he turned out to be real.”

Sherri and Gerry both chuckled at that.

“I guess I still can’t believe it sometimes, that I get to have something so special with him.” Yup, that was definitely sappy. He rubbed his neck, flustered.

“Believe it, Jen,” Jared said, coming up behind him and planting a kiss on the top of his head.

Jensen jumped and felt himself turn bright red. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough.” Jared gave him a soft smile through the damp bangs hanging over his face. “I feel lucky to have you, too.” He sat down next to Jensen at the table, his hand automatically finding its place on Jensen’s thigh.

Sherri sniffled again as she stood up. “Want some breakfast, Jared?”

Jared beamed up at her. “That would be awesome, Mama.”

Moment clearly over, Gerry changed the subject. “You boys about ready to head home?”

“Still have some packing to do,” Jared replied. “I started some laundry. When it’s done, we can finish packing.”

Jensen took a sip of his coffee and quirked an eyebrow at Jared in surprise. There wasn’t any real reason they needed to do laundry here; it could all wait until they got home.

“Sheets,” Jared mouthed silently, his eyes sparkling in mischief.

Jensen nearly snorted coffee up his nose.

* * *

Jensen put the bags in the trunk of their rental and shut the lid. They were finally packed and ready to drive to San Antonio for their flight home. He walked back up the driveway to the porch where Sherri had Jared engulfed in an enormous bear hug.

“It’s been so good to have you home, Jared!” she said into Jared’s shoulder. “You have to come home more often!”

Jared squeezed her back even as he rolled his eyes at Jensen. “We will, Mama. And you guys have to come out to LA to see our house!”

Sherri let Jared go and glomped onto Jensen. “You, too! Come back and visit anytime, Jensen!”

Jensen bit back the emotion welling up inside him. Sherri had done everything she could to make Jensen feel welcome, and he loved her for it. He squeezed her back. “Thank you, Sherri. We’ll come back as often as we can manage it.”

She leaned back and put her hands on Jensen’s neck, pulling him down so she could plant a kiss on his forehead. “Thank _you_ , Jensen. You’re good for my Jared, and I’m glad he found you.”

“Me too.” Jensen looked over at Jared, who was hugging Megan now, grinning over her shoulder at him. Jensen just smiled, feeling a little overwhelmed.

“Come on, Sherri, let him go,” Gerry prodded. “They’ve got other people to say goodbye to.”

Sherri gave a little sniffle and stepped back, her eyes brimming with tears and pride all over her face. “Alright. You boys travel safely, and call me the moment you get home so I know you made it okay.”

“Yes, Mom,” Jared said.

“Jensen, it was really good to meet you.” Gerry shook Jensen’s hand.

“Likewise,” Jensen replied. “Thank you for having me.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Jensen found himself wrapped up in another hug from Megan. “It was so awesome to meet you!” she gushed. “Thanks for signing my book. Let me know if you publish anything else. I wanna be the first to read it!”

Jensen chuckled. He could definitely do that. “Sure thing, Megs. It was great to meet you, too.”

After Megan let him go, Heather was next in line. Jensen felt like he couldn’t stop smiling. “And you, let us know when you decide on a name for our niece. We’ll come out to see you when she’s born.”

Heather beamed at him. “Will do, Jensen. You get home safely.”

Last was Jeff, who was looking green about the gills, still obviously battling a hangover. Jeff took Jensen’s hand in a firm grip. “Jensen, man, I’m sorry I was a jerk at first. I had a good time with you.”

Jensen nodded. “Yeah, me too. Let me know if you ever need me to kick your ass at pool again. I’ll happily oblige you.”

Jeff laughed. “Fat chance, shark. Maybe I’ll just stomp you in the bowling alley instead.”

Jensen smirked. “Alright, you practice your pool, I’ll practice my bowling, and next time I see you, we’ll rematch both. Deal?”

Jeff grinned. “Deal.”

Jared stepped between them to give Jeff a hug. “Thanks, man,” Jared said to his brother.

Jeff just knuckled Jared’s head. “See you later, runt. You get home safely.”

“Will do.”

Jensen looked at his watch. They were creeping up on running late. “Okay, gang, we really gotta go. We’ll call you when we get home.”

They shuffled back out to the car, receiving more hugs as they moved down the sidewalk, and finally Jensen and Jared were in the car, Jensen in the driver’s seat. Jared was still a little hung over.

“What a great weekend,” Jared said as he settled into the passenger seat. “That went really well, don’t ya think?”

Jensen put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb, waving at the Padaleckis as they drove away. “Yeah, Jay, it went really well. See? Told you that Jeff would come around.”

Jared grinned at him. “Yeah you did. And _I_ told _you_ that it would be okay, didn’t I?”

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Yes you did, not like I was too worried about it anyway. Your family is awesome, Jared. I’m glad we did this.”

Jared just set his hand on Jensen’s thigh. “Think we can get them to come out over spring break next year?”

“That would be great. They’ll be out for your graduation in June, for sure. I’m just looking forward to getting home, back to our own bed.”

Jared waggled his eyebrows at him. “Yeah, with no one else in the house, we don’t have to worry about being quiet.”

“Mmm, my thoughts exactly.” Jensen winked at him.

“Left turn for the interstate,” Jared instructed.

Jensen smiled as he made the turn. They were going home.

* * *

FIN

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